Flying On Her Wings
by littlegirlwarrior
Summary: 1300 years have passed since the Pevensies stepped back through that wardrobe, but not all of Narnia has been destroyed by the Telmarines. There are still a few Narnians left who will fight for their land. When the Pevensies return to Narnia and meet two of these soldiers, known throughout the land as Phoenix and Griffin, will they be enemies, allies, or something more?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello. Welcome to the wonderful world of Narnia according to me, littlegirlwarrior. First of all; the events in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" are unchanged except for the ages of the Pevensie children (Lucy is 11 instead of 8, Edmund is 13 instead of 10, Susan is 15 instead of 12, and Peter is 16 instead of 13). Secondly, in the continuation from the first film to the second film, 2 years have gone by on Earth but 1300 years have gone by in Narnia (I'll trust you to do the math to find their new ages). Finally, I am going to skip past the part where Doctor Cornelius helps Prince Caspian escape the clutches of his evil Uncle Miraz and get straight to the Pevensies. If you like the story, I will continue it. That's always been my policy.**

**Disclaimer: I never have owned Narnia and I probably never will**

"So, um, Hannah, I was wondering if perhaps you'd like to, uh, go out with me sometime?" Edmund asked nervously as he scratched the back of his neck anxiously, causing some of his raven black hair to ruffle out from underneath his school cap.

The blue-eyed girl flirtatiously twirled her blonde locks around her finger. "Do you mean go out on a date?"

"No!" Edmund answered quickly. "I mean yes! I mean...what do you say?"

Hannah tilted her head to the side pensively for a minute. "I say-"

"UGH! GET OFF ME YOU BLOODY-!" some boy screamed from down the platform.

"NOT UNTIL YOU TAKE IT BACK!" a familiar voice yelled in reply.

"Peter?!" Edmund called out. "Uh, Hannah, I'll be right back," he added before he ran toward the source of the disturbance.

At the end of the hall, Edmund found his older brother in the middle of a fight with three boys from their school, Hendon House. It wasn't easy to ignore considering half of the student population was chanting, "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!" One of them, most likely the one who yelled out first, was Archie Mantle, the most popular guy in school. He was a star athlete, was head of the student council, and dated all of the most beautiful ladies at Saint Finbar's, the all-girl school Susan and Lucy attended. The other two were Sam Cooper and Nick Andrews, also popular jocks from Hendon House.

One of the bullies, Sam by the looks of it, was holding his hurt nose while Archie and Nick had ganged together to beat up Peter. Edmund immediately pushed aside the spectators, not even noticing that his sisters were two of those spectators, and jumped into the fray to defend his big brother.

"Edmund!" Lucy hollered.

Edmund ignored his baby sister and tackled Sam. He took advantage of the Sam's surprise to toss his hat and school bag to the side so he could have better range of motion. Edmund then shoved the shocked bully into the nearest column. Meanwhile, the other two had pushed Peter to the ground. Nick held the blonde Pevensie down while Archie kicked Peter in the ribs. Edmund released hold of Sam and jumped at Nick. All of the boys wrestled on the ground until the shrill sound of a whistle cut through the air.

"STOP THE FIGHT! BREAK IT UP!" soldiers ordered as they ran through the crowded platform to reach the brawl.

The students scattered at the noise, carrying Lucy and Susan away with them.

The soldiers managed to tear the boys apart from each other and scold them for their actions.

"Act your age!" one of the soldiers commanded in a gruff voice as he pushed Peter aside.

Edmund bent over to pick up his abandoned school things when a pair of black Mary Janes and grey knee socks stepped into his line of sight. The brunette boy sighed and braced himself for a tongue-lashing from Susan, but when he looked up, he saw Hannah instead.

"H-Hannah!" Edmund exclaimed. "I-I can explain-"

"Sorry Edmund, but I could never date someone who engages in meaningless violence," Hannah huffed. "Especially not someone who engages in meaningless violence and loses." With a flip of her blonde curls, Hannah and her classmates walked away from the scene of the scuffle.

Edmund felt his face redden in humiliation as the laughs of Hannah and her friends echoed around him.

"It's okay, Ed," Lucy comforted as she put a hand on her brother's shoulder. "She wasn't that pretty anyway. Besides, I'll bet there are tons of girls who would love to be asked on a date by a boy as handsome and charming as you, especially considering you're a king."

"Agreed. You should have seen the boy who just tried to flirt with me," Susan added as she began to brush the dust and dirt off Peter's school uniform.

"What did you do to escape this time?" Peter questioned.

"I told him my name was Phyllis before Lucy showed up and dragged me away to watch you two get in another fight," Susan replied.

The four Pevensie children sat down on a bench to talk and pass the time before the train arrived.

"You're welcome," Edmund muttered.

"I had it sorted," Peter responded.

"What was it this time?" Susan inquired with a pointed look.

"Archie bumped me."

"So you hit him?"

"No," Peter cut in. "After he bumped me, Sam and Nick tried to make me apologize. That's when I hit him."

"Really?" Lucy asked.

"Is it that hard to walk away?" Susan interrogated.

"I shouldn't have to," Peter argued. "I mean, don't you ever get tired of being treated like a kid?!" exclaimed Peter.

"We are kids."

"Well I wasn't always. It's been two years. How long does he expect us to wait?!" Peter mutt

"I think that it's time to accept that we live here. There's no use pretending any different," Susan dismissed as she crossed her arms. She glanced over her shoulder and suddenly gasped. "Pretend you're talking to me," Susan hissed.

"We are talking to you," Edmund insisted.

Susan glared at her younger brother.

Edmund looked past Susan and immediately understood her behavior. A lanky brunette boy wearing glasses and a Hendon House uniform was walking in their direction. He seemed to be close to Susan's age and, given her reaction when she saw him coming, this was probably the boy who had been flirting with her.

"_Poor bloke_," Edmund thought. "_He doesn't realize he has no shot with her_."

While many people thought of Susan as a loner at school, Edmund knew from their days as adults in Narnia that Susan was not the quiet bookworm everybody here assumed she was. As Susan the Gentle, suitors from near and far visited the castle to vie for a chance with the breathtaking queen. While this Susan did not have a crown or fame from her beauty and archery skills, she did have a type and scrawny schoolboy was not it.

Thinking about this boy who was clearly pining for Susan reminded Edmund of his failure with Hannah. He had been so close, but then Peter had to go and get himself in another fight and, of course, Edmund had to go and help. He should have just stayed behind. The soldiers would still have broken up the fight anyway and at least Edmund would have been able to hear Hannah's answer, which had sounded like it was going to be a yes before they were interrupted.

All of a sudden, an outburst from Lucy interrupted Edmund's train of thought.

"OW! Something pinched me!" Lucy exclaimed as she hopped off the bench and pointed at her seat.

"Hey stop pulling!" Peter snapped at Edmund as he stood up from the bench.

"I'm not touching you!" Edmund defended.

"Look would all of you just-" Susan started. "What is that?!"

There was an overwhelming sense of power and chaos that filled the station.

"It feels like magic!" Lucy noted.

"Quick, everyone hold hands!" Susan ordered.

"I'm not holding your hand!" Edmund argued as Peter tried to grab his hand.

"Just-"

The chaos kept building. Trains sped by, papers flew off the walls, and wind whipped at their clothes. Bricks were suddenly ripped from the wall and windows were shattered as the train tunnel transformed into a cave leading out to a beautiful beach. Rather than feel alarmed, the Pevensies remained calm, for they knew that their next stop was Narnia.

...

Lucy's magical hunch was correct. They were on a beach that was so pristine that it could only be Narnian. The four siblings dropped the tension from earlier and played on the beach. They kicked off their shoes, peeled off their top layers from their school uniforms, and splashed around in the shallow part of the ocean. After a while, Edmund stepped out of the water and looked up at the cliffs overlooking the beach. He vaguely heard one of his siblings call out to him.

"Where do you suppose we are?" Edmund questioned out of nowhere.

"Well where do you think?" Peter replied. His tone implied the answer was obvious.

"Well I don't remember any ruins in Narnia," Edmund observed.

Peter furrowed his brow in thought as he tilted his head to look up at the crumbled remains resting on the top of the cliff. Lucy and Susan also stopped in their frolicking to see what had the boys distracted.

"Come on, then," Edmund announced. "We won't learn anything just by standing around and staring at it."

The Pevensies found a path up the rock and soon found themselves staring out over the oddly familiar beach. The four of them spread out to dig through the wreckage for any sign of where they were.

"Wonder who lived here," Lucy thought out loud.

Susan picked up a gold centaur figurine and examined it. "I think we did," she remarked.

Lucy walked over to take a look at the miniature statue and was soon joined by their brothers.

"Hey that's mine!" Edmund exclaimed. "From my chess set."

"Which chess set?" Peter asked.

"I didn't exactly have a solid gold chess set in Finchley, did I?" Edmund retorted as he reclaimed his possession.

Lucy stared at their eroded surroundings. "Can't be." She ran off toward the center of the ruins.

As usual, the remaining siblings looked at each other in disbelief before following Lucy.

"Don't you see?!" Lucy questioned once her siblings caught up to her.

"What?" Peter replied as Lucy let go of his hand.

Lucy positioned her brothers and sister in front of four mounds of stone. "Imagine walls," she began as she pushed Peter and Edmund to her right. "And columns there," she continued as she placed Susan to the left of Peter and pointed ahead. "And a glass roof," she added as she moved to stand at Susan's left.

As the four siblings stared off into the distance, they knew exactly where they were.

"Cair Paravel," Peter stated.

They stayed quiet for a while, trying to take in the knowledge that their home, a castle that they remembered as an indestructible fortress, was nothing more than rubble. The only sound came from the breeze whistling through the trees...

THUMP!

The young kings and queens whipped around to see two knights crouched on the floor behind the thrones. The taller of the two was wearing a gold breastplate, gold shoulder guards, and a red sleeveless tunic over ripped black leggings with brown leather boots and a matching belt. He had a red phoenix on his breastplate and a long flaming red feather coming out of his gold helmet. He had a sword and two gold rings the size of plates fastened to his belt. The other knight was dressed similarly except he had bronze armor over a green short-sleeved tunic with an emerald green griffin on his breastplate. He had a plain bronze helmet without any decoration and he had a slingshot on his belt rather than the gold discs.

"Unfortunately you will not be able to tell your Telmarine friends about your discovery," the red and gold knight said in a menacing voice.

"What are you talking about?!" Susan cried out.

"You are trespassing on sacred land," the green and bronze knight explained in a more boyish voice. "That is a crime, outsiders!"

"You girls hide!" Peter ordered. "Ed and I'll handle this!"

Edmund grabbed two sword handles poking out from under the wreckage, pulled them out, and passed one to Peter. The brothers bore their weapons, ready to fight against the enemy knights. The taller knight looked to the shorter one and nodded. The shorter knight dipped his head in understanding and stepped back, lowering his blade but still keeping it ready in case Susan or Lucy tried to escape.

Edmund and Peter charged at the red and gold knight, ready for an easy victory, but they were mistaken. The three blades clanged against each other almost musically. Finally, Edmund and Peter started to tire out from not practicing sword-fighting regularly anymore. The knight sensed this and as he blocked both swords with his own, he kicked Peter in the chest, right where Archie had kicked Peter earlier. Peter crumpled to his knees on the side, leaving Edmund to battle the knight on his own. After a few more minutes of swords crashing, the knight dropped to the ground and kicked Edmund's legs out from underneath him. Edmund's blade dropped out of his grip only to be snatched by the knight.

"Any last words?" the knight questioned as he pointed one sword at Edmund's throat and the other and Edmund's heart.

"EDMUND!" Lucy screamed. She started to run at the knight but Susan held her back.

However, hearing Edmund's name caused the knight to pause in his actions. "Wait, Edmund?! As in King Edmund the Just?!"

Edmund nodded nervously.

The red and gold knight put his blade back in its holster and dropped the other to the side. Lucy and Susan raced forward to help their brothers.

"Phoenix, what are you doing?!" the green and bronze knight interrogated.

"Silence, Griffin! Can you not see we are in the presence of Narnian royalty?"

Both knights kneeled in front of the Pevensies, who stared at their enemies with confused faces.

"My deepest apologies, my kings," the taller knight apologized. "I never would have imagined that after more than a millennia, you would finally return to save us yet again. My brother and I are defenders of what remains of this once-great land. There are few sacred places that have been spared the worst by the Telmarines."

"Rise and take off your helmet, soldier of the Phoenix," Peter ordered bitterly. "Let us see the faces of our attackers."

The first knight stood and took of his gold helmet...only to reveal the face of the most beautiful girl Edmund and Peter had ever seen.

"You're a girl!" the Pevensie boys exclaimed.

That helmet feather turned out to be Phoenix's hair, a mane of straight flaming red hair that flowed down her back like a fiery waterfall. She had gold eyes that sparkled even more than her armor, fair skin with a splash of freckles across her nose and cheeks, and...pointed ears?!

"You're a fairy?!" the Pevensie girls exclaimed.

Phoenix scowled. "I am a fae, not a fairy. Note the lack of wings." She turned around and pointed at her back for emphasis. "I also have powers that control more than just pixie dust."

"Well how about we start over then?" Peter proposed, hoping to eliminate any negative feelings between him and this enchanting girl. "I'm Peter, better known as High King Peter the Magnificent, and these are my siblings: Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. And you are?"

"I am Dyani, the Phoenix knight, fae of fire. This is my brother, Orion, the Griffin knight and fae of earth."

The other knight stood up and removed his helmet. He had spring green eyes and curly brown hair that just reached the nape of his neck. Orion's pointed ears matched his sister's and so did his light freckles. He was obviously younger than Dyani and appeared to be close to Lucy's age.

"We are knights of Narnia and we are at your service, Your Highnesses," Dyani continued as she and Orion bowed to the Pevensies.

"_A powerful fighter, a loyal Narnian, and a striking beauty_," Edmund thought. "_Dyani, where have you been all my life_?"

**And that is where I bid you adieu. Review if you want me to continue.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well out of positive response and personal excitement, I decided to continue this story. Thank you to all my reviewers whose messages inspired me to continue my tale: hellraiserphoenix, sarahwood, hannahlovespll, and Blindluck92 (the best big brother a fanfiction writer could ask for). And considering I just put up a new chapter for my Treasure Planet story yesterday, I can honestly say this is the fastest update streak between two stories I've had, like, ever (or at least in a few years). Wow what a rush.**

**Disclaimer: if I owned the Chronicles of Narnia, I would have made my OC's official characters in the series**

Dyani and Orion led the Pevensies to Cair Paravel's only remaining entrance, which was hidden behind a wall. While the fae siblings began to cut away at the branches blocking the door, Edmund crouched down to examine a boulder. Peter, however, was so busy gazing at the enchanting redhead that he didn't notice Edmund in front of him and tripped over the brunette boy.

"Oof!" Peter grunted as he stumbled to the ground.

"Are you hurt, my lord?" Dyani questioned as she turned around at the thud sound.

Peter scrambled to his feet. "Nothing I haven't done a million times before. I mean, not that I'm clumsy or anything like that. There are just a lot of uneven surfaces where we come from." Peter chuckled awkwardly.

Dyani replied with a shrug before returning her attention to pushing branches aside.

Peter mentally slapped himself for babbling like an idiot. Normally Edmund was the one who rambled around girls while Peter was the smooth one. Obviously today was an exception. One look from those sparkling gold eyes and Peter was putty in Dyani's hands.

"Catapults," Edmund interrupted.

"What?" Peter inquired as he looked down at his younger brother.

"This didn't just happen," Edmund stated as he gestured toward the ruins in front of them. "Cair Paravel was attacked."

"That's what Dyani was talking about," Susan added. "She said that this was one place that was spared the worst. However, that doesn't mean it wasn't attacked at all."

"Ahem," Orion coughed.

The four siblings looked toward the magical boy.

"If you four are done talking about my sister like she is not present, we found the way into the castle."

Susan scowled and Peter rolled his eyes, but they decided not to offend possibly the only two allies they had in all of Narnia. Dyani and Orion both grabbed on to the edge of the wall and pulled/pushed it to the side, revealing an ancient wooden door.

"Everybody stand back," Orion ordered. "I can kick the door down."

"Wait!" Susan exclaimed. "Wouldn't it be more efficient just to carve out the knob? It would cause less damage to whatever is down there."

Dyani looked at her brother and gave him the signal to stand down. "I guess you really are the most intelligent of your siblings, milady. Do any of you happen to have a dagger?"

Peter pulled out his pocket knife and handed it to Dyani.

Dyani looked at the 20th century knife in confusion but decided not to argue. "Thank you, Your Highness."

"You know, you can call me Peter if you want," the blonde boy offered with a grin.

"If you insist," Dyani responded as she proceeded to cut a circle around the aging door knob. As soon as she finished, the metal and wood dropped to the ground on the opposite side of the door. Dyani handed Peter his knife back and gently pushed the door open, which caused the door to drop off one of its hinges.

Peter used his blade to make a slit in his shirt that was hanging untucked from his sweater vest. He then continued to cut a strip of white fabric from the shirt and wrapped it around a nearby branch.

"Don't supposed you have any matches, do you?" Peter asked as he tied a knot in the cloth.

Dyani and Orion shared a mischievous smirk. They had something better than matches, but...

"No," Edmund answered as he opened his brown leather satchel. "But...would this help?" he proposed innocently as he pulled a silver flashlight out of his bag.

"You might have mentioned that a bit sooner," Peter said exasperatedly as he tossed his branch to the side and looked down at his ruined shirt hem.

Lucy and Susan giggled and Edmund grinned jokingly before leading the way into the tunnel. Peter allowed the ladies, including Dyani, to enter first. Edmund flipped on his flashlight and light flooded throughout the dank staircase.

"What kind of magic is that?" Orion questioned out of genuine curiosity.

Dyani chuckled. Her brother was a born tinkerer and whatever kind of charm had been placed on that metal torch piqued Orion's interest.

"The magic of batteries," Lucy stated as she looked back toward the younger fae. "It's complicated."

Orion shrugged in acceptance.

Once the six teenagers reached the bottom of the staircase, Edmund switched off his flashlight since the sun had managed to shine into the room through the cracks in the wall. Peter pushed open the wrought-iron gate and his three siblings raced over to their trunks. Each king/queen's chest was in front of their statue made during the Golden Age of Narnia.

"I can't believe it. It's all still here," Peter added in amazement before he picked up a dust-covered shield.

Dyani and Orion stayed at the gate, not wanting to intrude.

"I was so tall!" Lucy said with a giggle as she held one of her old dresses up to herself for comparison.

"Well, you were older then," Susan explained. She and her baby sister shared a smile.

"As opposed to hundreds of years later," Edmund jumped in. "When you're younger."

Dyani put her hand over her mouth to conceal her laughter. Edmund had found one of his old helmets and put it on, but apparently his head had shrunk in the last millennia, causing the helmet to look ridiculous on him. Unfortunately, hiding her amusement didn't work because Dyani accidentally snorted trying to stifle her laugh.

Edmund heard Dyani's snort and grinned at her. "_Never before have I met a girl who can make a snort sound so adorable_," Edmund thought.

Dyani blushed and she gave Edmund a small smile back. As soon as Edmund returned to rummaging through his old possessions, Orion elbowed his older sister in the side. Dyani dropped the smile and looked away to hide her pink-tinted cheeks.

Peter ignored his family's jokes and blew the dirt off his shield, uncovering the lion face. He lowered the shield and walked over to his own trunk. He stared at his statue and longed for his days when he had his crown and his long golden hair. Nobody would ever beat him up again if he looked like his statue.

"What is it?" Lucy inquired suddenly.

"My horn," Susan replied as she picked up her signature bow and arrows. "I must've left it on my saddle the day we went back."

Peter opened the lid to his chest and stared at what remained of his life in Narnia. He picked out his sword and pulled the blade from its sheath. "'When Aslan bares his teeth, winter meets its death,'" Peter recited as he gazed at the flawless metal blade.

"'When he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again,'" Lucy continued.

The Pevensies stared at the brunette girl.

"Everyone we knew..." Lucy choked out. "Mr. Tumnus and the Beavers...they're all gone."

The nostalgic mood in the room was replaced with one of sorrow.

"They are gone, aren't they?" Lucy asked as she suddenly addressed the fae knights.

Dyani took a deep breath. "I am sorry, my queen, but the Narnians you knew from your reign have all passed on."

Lucy started to sob and ran into Susan's arms. Susan softly petted the top of Lucy's head as she whispered comforting words.

Peter sighed. "I think it's time we found out what's going on."

Dyani coughed. "But you might want to change out of..." Dyani waved her hand in the direction of the Pevensies' school clothes, "...those first. Orion and I will go stand guard outside while you get changed." She and Orion stepped out through the iron gate and walked up the stairs.

"Dyani?" Lucy called out.

Dyani stopped in her tracks at the midpoint of the staircase. She peered down at Lucy through the crumbled wall.

"Would you like a new set of clothing?" Lucy offered. "No offense but yours look pretty worn out."

Orion scoffed. He had known Dyani his entire life and he knew that fashion and appearance were her lowest priorities.

Dyani slapped her brother upside the head. "Um, thank you, milady, but I cannot possibly take your clothes," Dyani stammered, trying to figure out the most polite way to say 'no way in heck'.

"No, but you can take mine," Susan interceded. "I have an outfit that will fit you perfectly. I insist."

Dyani held back a groan, but Orion made no effort in holding back his laughter. Dyani stomped on her brother's foot out of petty vengeance before she walked back down the stairs and took the clothes from Susan. The redheaded girl began unfastening her weapons and armor.

"Um, Ed? Peter?" Susan questioned.

"Yeah?" the brothers responded simultaneously.

"Aren't you going to wait outside with Orion?" Susan asked with a pointed look.

"Right! We'll, uh, just be going then," Edmund stuttered before grabbing Peter's arm and dragging him upstairs.

Dyani and the brunette sisters waited until the footsteps were gone before getting undressed.

"Sorry about my brothers," Susan apologized. "They're not normally this...dopey."

Dyani chuckled. "No need to apologize, Your Highness. I grew up with three brothers and they were all like that."

"Dyani, you don't have to keep calling us by our titles," Susan insisted.

"As you wish."

"Wait, three brothers? I thought Orion was your only brother," Lucy added.

Dyani winced. How had she let that slip? "My other two brothers are, uh, gone," she murmured.

"Gone where?" Lucy inquired.

"Lucy!" Susan hissed.

"Oops! Sorry."

The friendly atmosphere quickly dissolved and the three girls finished changing in awkward silence.

...

"Why do girls take so long to get ready?!" Peter exclaimed. "They've been in there for easily twenty minutes!"

"Your sisters are probably busy trying to trick my sister into wearing a dress," Orion joked. "If that is the case, we will be waiting for at least another thirty minutes."

The three boys laughed.

"She would not last a day back home," Edmund commented. "Girls are practically required to wear skirts or dresses all the time...unless they're working in a factory."

"What is a factory?" Orion asked.

"It's like a huge fortress where people build weapons and means of transportation and other stuff," Peter explained as simply as he could.

"Your technology sounds so fascinating," Orion replied in awe. "My father would have-" Orion covered his mouth before he finished his sentence.

"Your father would have what?" Edmund questioned.

"Yes, Orion," a female voice added. "Your father would have what?"

All three boys whipped around to see the three girls standing behind them. Susan and Lucy both looked confused, but Dyani looked ticked. She had her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at her little brother.

"Nothing," Orion mumbled.

"Exactly. Now go fetch my armor and helmet. I left them downstairs."

Orion scurried through the door without another word. Dyani let out a deep breath and brushed a stray hair away from her eyes.

"Why bring the armor? It's so bulky," Lucy commented.

"The phoenix on my breastplate signifies me as a knight of Narnia and the helmet prevents enemies from seeing my ears or eyes, my most distinctive features." **(AN sorry for the interruption but I just wanted to point out that her helmet does not cover her lower face. I put a picture of a helmet on my profile that I am imagining on Dyani...just imagine it entirely gold, pretend her ponytail comes out where that spike is on the top, and add a visor that would cover her eyes)**

Now that they weren't terrified of her reaction, Peter and Edmund were able to take in the fae girl's change in attire. While Susan and Lucy had not been able to get Dyani into a dress, they did manage to make her wear slightly more feminine clothes. Dyani was wearing a white blouse that peaked out from underneath her somewhat loose red corset around her torso. She was still wearing her brown leather boots, which Peter and Edmund just noticed were heeled, but she had on brand new black leggings and red leather fingerless gloves. Her belt with her sword and gold chakrams hung low on her waist. Her fire-colored hair was in a ponytail with two little braids that went along the top of her head before disappearing inside the ponytail.

"Susan I didn't know you owned any pants," Peter stated.

"That's because I never wore them," Susan reminded him. "But Dyani insisted they were much more practical than the skirt I gave her."

"I'm not complaining," Peter defended as he held his hands up in mock surrender. "But if practicality was the aim, why keep the corset?"

"It provides an extra layer of protection from weapons and this type of leather is actually sometimes used in armor for its difficult penetration and flexibility," Dyani explained.

"Well it certainly looks good on you," Peter complimented with a flirty grin.

"Thank you, Peter," Dyani murmured as she looked down at the ground.

Edmund seethed as he watched his brother hit on Dyani. He stormed inside the castle and nearly knocked over Orion, who was coming out with Dyani's armor.

"What is wrong with King Edmund?" Orion asked as he placed the golden armor on the ground.

"Where do I begin?" Peter said with a dramatic sigh. "Come on, Orion. I'm sure we can find you some of Edmund's clothes from our early days in Narnia." Peter put a hand on the griffin knight's back and led him back downstairs.

...

"So where are you taking us?" Lucy inquired as Dyani and Orion led the Pevensies across a field bordering the beach right below Cair Paravel.

"Did you really think we were the only Narnians left?" Dyani questioned. "We are bringing you to one of the rebel outposts."

"Well how far until-"

"He won't stop staring," a man's voice echoed from the other side of the plain.

"So don't look," another man replied.

"Telmarines! Come on!" Dyani ordered in a hushed voice as she lowered the visor on her helmet.

The six teenagers sprinted across the field.

"Here's far enough," the first voice insisted.

The two soldiers stood up in their boat and picked up their captive: a dwarf. They were just about to let the incapacitated dwarf plunge into the river when one of Susan's arrows lodged itself in the side of their rowboat. The enemies immediately looked toward the source of the arrow and saw four teenagers accompanied by two knights of Narnia. Susan notched another arrow and Peter and Edmund pulled out their swords.

"Drop him!" Susan commanded.

The dwarf mumbled something incoherent while the two soldiers looked at each other and shrugged. They tossed the dwarf into the water. Peter, Edmund, and Orion raced toward the river to save the dwarf. One of the soldiers picked up his crossbow and aimed it at Susan, but she shot her arrow straight into his chest before he could pull the trigger. The other soldier tried to grab his friend's crossbow, but Dyani hit him in the head with her chakram (gold ring disc), knocking him out and sending him falling into the river. The chakram spiraled around before it retuned to Dyani's hand.

Meanwhile, Peter dove into the river and rescued the dwarf while Edmund and Orion swam out to grab the rowboat. Once the dwarf was safe on dry land, Lucy kneeled down next to him and used her dagger to cut off his restraints.

After the dwarf stopped coughing up water, he gave Susan a death stare. "DROP HIM?!" he roared as he flung his gag to the ground. "That's the best you can come up with?!"

"A simple 'thank you' would suffice," Susan retorted.

"They were doing fine drowning me without your help," the dwarf snapped as he pointed out to where the two guards had sunk.

"Watch your tone," Dyani warned. "If I were you, I would not be hurling insults at my rescuers."

"You gonna make me?" the dwarf challenged.

"No..." Dyani suddenly lit her hand on fire. "But this might."

The dwarf and the Pevensies jumped back in fright while Orion remained unfazed.

"What? When I introduced myself as 'the Phoenix knight, fae of fire', that was not just a title."

"Maybe we should have let them drown him," Peter argued bitterly.

"Why are they trying to kill you anyway?" Lucy asked.

"The same reason they are trying to kill us," Orion cut in. "They are Telmarines. That is what they do."

"Wait, Telmarines? As in THE Telmarines? In Narnia?" Edmund interrogated.

"Where have you been for the last few hundred years?" the dwarf drawled.

"It's a bit of a long story," Lucy replied with a small smile.

The dwarf suddenly noticed the lion's head ornament on the hilt of Peter's sword. He groaned. "Oh you've got to be kidding me. You're it? You're the Kings and Queens of Old?!"

Peter held out his hand in greeting. "High King Peter...the Magnificent."

The dwarf looked at the hand and then looked at the others with an _'are you kidding me_?' expression.

"You probably could've left off the last bit," Susan muttered.

"Probably," the dwarf said with a chuckle and a small smirk.

Peter retracted his hand and pulled out his sword. "You might be surprised."

"Oh, you don't want to do that, boy," the dwarf challenged.

"Not me," Peter corrected as he handed his blade to the dwarf. "Him," Peter added with a nod toward Edmund.

Edmund smirked happily and gripped his sword. The dwarf glanced at Peter's sword uncertainly before he grabbed hold of it. The blade immediately dropped to the ground. The Pevensies shared a confident grin, but Dyani kept a ready hand on the hilt of her sword. She was aware of how aggressive and tricky dwarves could be and this one struck a nerve in her.

Suddenly, the dwarf started swinging the sword dangerously close to the top of Edmund's head. Edmund crouched to dodge the blade, giving the dwarf just the opportunity to elbow the younger king in the nose.

"Edmund!" Lucy cried out.

"Oh you all right?" the dwarf questioned in a fake-concerned tone.

Edmund and the dwarf proceeded to fight. Dyani used every ounce of self-control not to jump in and finish the fight herself because she knew that in order to convince this dwarf of the Pevensies' identity, Edmund would have to prove himself. After about another minute of metal-on-metal, Edmund used a windmill trick and moved his blade around continuously in a big circle and knocked Peter's sword out of the dwarf's hands.

The dwarf gaped at the fallen sword and then at Edmund before he dropped to the ground. "Beards and bedsteads!" the dwarf exclaimed as he looked at the four siblings. "Maybe that horn worked after all."

"What horn?" Lucy asked.

**I know this seems a little Peter/OC right now, but I promise it will eventually get to Edmund/OC. Edmund will get his game on as soon as he recovers from his fail with Hannah. And sorry for the cliché ending point but I still have a little homework left to do. See y'all soon. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everybody! First of all, as I start this chapter, I would like to say I am an official high school graduate (also the official salutatorian for my class)! But I also just had to say goodbye to my boyfriend who is back home after visiting me for a week :(. Dang long-distance relationships are hard...but still worth it. Now, on to matters that you care about: this chapter. Thank you to my patient readers and reviewers: GuardianofNarnia, NarnianFairy, aslans daughter, and SpiritsArise. You make me write. **

**Oh and one more quick note: if you see Dyani and Orion speaking in a different language, that would be Irish, which I am using in this story as the language of the fae. Don't worry I'll provide translations at the bottom. **

**Disclaimer: saying I owned the Chronicles of Narnia would be like saying I graduated at the bottom of my grade...in other words, just a big fat lie**

The dwarf, the faes, and the Pevensies piled into the Telmarine boat and paddled their way down the river. Trumpkin sat at the head of the boat to navigate while Edmund sat at the rear and Peter paddled. Dyani rode with her hand on her sword and her eyes on shore, ready to defend her kings and queens no matter the cost. Both of the brothers tried to take the seat next to Dyani but Orion claimed the spot before either brother could do so.

"They're so still," Lucy commented as she gazed up at the towering trees alongside the shore.

Trumpkin glanced at the leafy giants. "They're trees," he replied skeptically. "What'd you expect?"

"They used to dance," Lucy insisted.

Trumpkin couldn't bring himself to look the youngest Pevensie in the eye. Even Peter stopped rowing and joined his siblings in observing the silent forest.

"They are still alive, milady," Orion added in comfort. "It is just-"

"Wasn't long after you left that the Telmarines invaded," Trumpkin interrupted. "Those who survived retreated to the woods."

Orion sighed nostalgically as he gently traced the outline of his slingshot. "And the trees...they retreated so deep into themselves that nobody has heard from them since...not even me."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

Orion opened his mouth to answer but Dyani cut him off. "Orion is the fae of earth. It is one of his gifts."

"You can talk to plants?!" Lucy responded.

Orion chuckled. "Not exactly. I can control products of Mother Nature and use them to my advantage, but only temporarily. However, I can read their spirits." Orion stared out at the forest. "For example, these trees have auras that are withdrawn, terrified. They are waiting to be freed."

"Freed by who?"

Orion locked eyes with Lucy. "By you, my queen."

Lucy turned her attention back to her surroundings, but neither Susan nor Dyani missed the pink tint on the thirteen year old girl's cheeks.

Lucy sighed. "I don't understand. How could Aslan have let this happen?"

The dwarf and the faes all stared at Lucy in surprise and confusion.

"Aslan?!" Trumpkin questioned. "Thought he abandoned us when you lot did."

Lucy's eyes flickered down sadly and even Trumpkin felt guilty enough to look away. The only sound came from the oars dipping in and out of the water.

"We didn't mean to leave, you know," Peter muttered.

"Makes no difference now, does it?" Trumpkin grumbled.

"Get us to the Narnians...and it will," Peter stated.

The boat ride continued in silence until Orion leaned over to Dyani.

"_An bhfuil tú muinín dó? Chonaic tú conas dímheasúil a bhí sé leis na Banríona milis agus conas ionsaigh sé an Rí cothrom_," Orion whispered into his sister's ear.

"_Níl aon níos mó ar ár ndaoine ar chlé, deartháir. Ní mór dúinn aon deis a fháil ar arm reibiliúnach. Ní mór dúinn a chosaint ar ár ríthe agus ríoghna agus ní féidir linn é a dhéanamh ina n-aonar_," Dyani murmured back.

"What's going on?" Susan questioned. "Do you know where he's taking us?"

"I do not have the faintest idea," Dyani replied.

"But-" Susan started to interrogate Dyani into admitting what she and Orion had been talking about, but an "accidental" elbow in the ribs by Peter cut Susan off. Susan looked back to glare at her older brother, but one look from Peter made her drop the issue.

"What about your parents?" Lucy added. "Won't they be worried if you don't come home?"

"Lucy!" the Pevensie siblings hissed.

"What?!" the young brunette girl defended.

Orion looked down and lowered the mask on his helmet so it covered his watery eyes.

Dyani kept her eyes locked on the shoreline. "Orion and I have no home," she explained as calmly and emotionlessly as she could, "and we take care of ourselves."

A wave of guilt washed over Lucy as she regretted her nosiness.

The remainder of the trip down the river pursued without another word. Finally, Trumpkin told Peter to pull the rowboat over. Trumpkin jumped out of the dingy with the anchor and carried it up the rocky beach to secure it while the others worked on getting the boat out of the water. Dyani, who managed to get ashore without getting herself wet, and Susan pulled it by its rope and Peter, Edmund, and Orion pushed the boat itself. Meanwhile, Lucy strolled along the beach until she noticed a large black bear drinking from the river.

Lucy grinned at the sight of the creature. "Hello there!" she greeted cheerfully.

The bear, along with the faes and Lucy's siblings, turned toward the source of the voice immediately. The bear grunted and stood on its hind legs.

"It's alright," Lucy insisted sweetly. "We're friends."

"_Cac_!" Dyani cursed under her breath.

The redheaded fae dropped her grip on the rope and instinctively reached for her bow and arrows. Unfortunately, Dyani realized that she had forgotten them at her campsite that morning. Dyani and Orion had been so caught off guard by the arrival of the Pevensies at the ruins that they accidentally abandoned some of their equipment.

At the same time, the bear dropped back on all fours and took an aggressive stance.

Trumpkin noticed and his eyes bugged out at the sight. "Don't move, Your Majesty!" the dwarf hollered.

Lucy turned toward Trumpkin with a confused look on her face.

Suddenly, the bear growled as it charged at the innocent queen. Lucy heard the impact of its paws with the pebbles and immediately began running toward the boat.

"_Ciach air!_ Orion! Stall it!" Dyani ordered as she sprinted in the direction of the bear.

Orion nodded and aimed his hands at the bear. His green eyes glowed as roots sprouted up from between the rocks and snaked around the bear's legs. The sturdy roots slowed the animal down, but the bear's strength was too powerful to be stopped. Within a few seconds, the bear had snapped its restraints and continued its chase after Lucy.

"Stay away from her!" Susan demanded as she aimed her arrow directly at the bear.

But the bear ignored Susan's command. If anything, the bear only ran faster. It quickly closed the gap between itself and Lucy, who tripped on the rocky surface and fell right at the creature's feet. Dyani poured all of her energy into her legs as she sped up her pace even more. Narnians had been terrorized for over a thousand years and she refused to let their last hope be devoured by some wild animal.

"Shoot, Susan, shoot!" Edmund cried out at his older sister's hesitation to fire her weapon. He and Peter whipped out their swords, ready to use those blades to save Lucy if necessary.

Lucy screamed in terror as the bear roared directly at her face, allowing the girl to see a mouth full of jagged teeth.

"Get back!" Dyani yelled and she shot a stream of fire from her hand to create a low wall of flames to separate Lucy from the bear.

The bear reared up on its hind legs to avoid being burned and Dyani took the opportunity to grab her hidden dagger from her boot and fling it into the bear's right shoulder. Dyani grabbed on to Lucy's shoulders and was about to use the distraction to pull her away from the bear's reach. Unfortunately, the fiery wall was not high enough to block the fae and the enraged bear swiped out with its paw to knock Dyani down. Orion tried to restrain the animal again and again with roots, but the bear's sharp claws kept shredding them. With Dyani out of the way, the bear roared again and began to resume its attack on Lucy, but it stopped when an arrow embedded itself into the bear's heart. The creature's eyes went glassy and it collapsed lifelessly on to the pebbled shore.

Lucy and Dyani whipped their heads around, expecting to see Susan with an empty bow and a victorious grin, but Susan still had her red feather arrow notched in her bow and a confused expression that mirrored theirs. Instead, it was Trumpkin who fired the arrow that had slain the bear. The dwarf released his bow and wordlessly strode over toward the corpse with Orion following right behind him.

Susan lowered her bow. "Why wouldn't he stop?" she asked in a befuddled tone, not taking her eyes off the dead bear.

"I suspect he was hungry," Trumpkin answered plainly.

Susan stood dumbstruck as her brothers jogged over to help with Lucy and Dyani.

Orion crouched over his big sister, but Dyani insisted he deal with Lucy first. Lucy was still laying on her back, taking sharp and quick breaths as she stared at the lifeless mass of fur at her feet. Orion gently took the young girl's hands and lifted her to her feet. Lucy, shaken up by what had just occurred, threw her arms around the fae boy for support and comfort. Orion didn't know how to react, but Lucy was quivering so much and she seemed so scared that Orion returned her embrace.

"Dyani?! Are you alright?!" Edmund questioned as he kneeled down next to the fallen fae. He put one hand under Dyani's shoulder and carefully helped her to a sitting position.

Peter stood next to Edmund but he was in a defensive stance with his sword pointed directly at the bear just in case the arrow hadn't done its job. Once Trumpkin poked the bear to confirm it was dead, Peter turned his attention to Dyani, too.

"I am fine," Dyani croaked as she covered her left bicep with her right hand. "It is just a scratch. I just need to wash it off in the river."

Dyani stood up too fast and lost her balance, but Edmund caught her before she could fall. Dyani looked up into the boy's brown eyes and couldn't believe how warm they looked. She bit her lip in an attempt to hold back her smile, but it didn't work. Edmund gave her a small grin in return.

"Ahem!" Peter coughed loudly.

Edmund looked up to see his blonde brother with his arms crossed and a bitter expression.

That interruption made Dyani remember that Edmund was a king and they weren't alone. "My apologies, Your Majesty," Dyani stammered. She scurried out of Edmund's arms and walked over to the edge of the shore, still keeping a hand over her wound and hoping the others wouldn't notice the flaming color on her cheeks.

Once Dyani was gone, attention turned back to the fallen animal. Susan eventually walked over to join the others once she snapped out of her stupor.

"Thanks," Lucy uttered to Trumpkin. Her arms were still wrapped around Orion.

Trumpkin glanced at Lucy, but he did not speak. Instead, he continued to probe the bear.

"He was wild," Edmund noted.

"I don't think he could talk at all," Peter added, still giving his younger brother a rotten look.

"Get treated like a dumb animal long enough, that's what you become," Trumpkin explained. He crouched down next to the bear and whipped out his dagger. "You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember." He cut his blade into the bear and began to skin it.

Lucy buried her face in Orion's shoulder so she wouldn't have to watch. Orion wished he could deny Trumpkin's statement to make Lucy feel better, but he didn't feel it was right to lie to her.

Over by the river, Dyani had managed to wash off her arm without indicating to the others how painful it was. There were five slashes in her sleeve to match the five gashes in her upper left arm left by the bear's claws. She pulled off her breastplate and the rest of her armor and laid it all down beside her. Truthfully, putting water on the skin of a fire fae was painful enough, but putting water on an open wound hurt more than anyone could imagine. Dyani bit the inside of her cheek so hard to keep herself from screaming that she drew blood. Once her bicep was cleaned off, Dyani untied the red ribbon from her hair, letting her hair flow loose like a fiery river of lava, and wrapped the ribbon around her arm as a makeshift bandage. She had just finished tying the knot when Edmund came over and sat down beside her.

"Trumpkin thought you might want this back," Edmund commented as he handed Dyani a small knife.

Dyani immediately recognized the knife as the dagger she had hurled at the bear. She pulled down on her boot to reveal a secret holster and slid the knife inside it. "Thanks," she murmured.

"Are you absolutely positive that you're okay?" Edmund inquired in a concerned tone.

"I have had worse," Dyani responded with a shrug.

Edmund wasn't fooled. "That wasn't my question. I asked if you were okay."

Dyani let out a soft chuckle. "And here I thought Queen Susan was the intelligent one," she teased with a smirk.

Edmund raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to answer his question.

Dyani sighed. "If 'okay' means fine, then yes, I am okay. Is there anything else?"

"I wanted to thank you for saving Lucy back there. I've almost lost her before and I couldn't stand the thought of possibly losing her again," Edmund replied. "What you did fulfilled the most important aspects of a knight of Narnia: bravery, selflessness, and loyalty."

"Thank you, my lord."

"If you want, you can call me Edmund," the brunette Pevensie boy offered. "Or Ed. I'm fine with either."

"I would like that."

The two of them shared a smile for an unknown amount of time before they heard a cough behind them.

"Edmund, if you're not too busy, we should be moving along," Peter patronized. "My deepest apologies, Dyani. My brother should not have distracted you from dressing your wound. You'd think he would know better by now."

Edmund seethed. Just a few hours ago, he had leaped into a fray to defend Peter and now Peter was trying to make him look like a child in front of Dyani.

"No worries, Your Highness. Edmund was not distracting me at all," Dyani dismissed as she stood up and picked up her armor. "In fact he was just returning my dagger. Now, I should go help Trumpkin with the bear. Excuse me, my lord."

Dyani started to walk away, but Peter grabbed her by the wrist (her right wrist luckily). "Dyani, it's okay for you to call me Peter. You don't have to address me by my royal title."

"I understand, Your Majesty," Dyani replied politely before she gently slid her wrist from his grasp and left to join the others.

Peter sighed as he stared at the retreating girl. He loved the way her outfit hugged all the right curves while still giving her the dangerous look of a warrior. "Something about a girl who plays hard to get that just makes me-"

"How about you do us both a favor and not finish that sentence," Edmund retorted.

Peter scoffed. "Why are you doing this to yourself, Ed? Can't you tell she likes me more? Besides, I thought you were interested in that blonde girl, uh, Hannah."

Edmund gritted his teeth.

Realization dawned on Peter. "Oh she rejected you, didn't she? Sorry to hear that mate," Peter sympathized.

"You should be...because it's your fault."

Peter and Edmund started going at it with each other and their argument continued to raise in volume until they were stopped by the adult of the family...Susan.

"BOYS!" Susan exclaimed.

The brothers stopped their quarreling to look at the seventeen-year-old girl.

"I don't know about you two, but I, for one, would like to reach our destination before dark. Whatever petty squabble you are having now, it can wait until later. Now shut up and move out." Susan stalked over to where the other four were waiting.

"Don't think this is over," Peter hissed as he secured his shield on his back.

"Far from it," Edmund agreed in a low voice.

**And that is the end of that...for now. Please review because this chapter took a whole lot of thought and a whole lot of time inside on the only sunny days we're supposed to have for a week. Love you all and here are the translations I promised.**

**Fae/Irish to English translations:**

_**"An bhfuil tú muinín dó? Chonaic tú conas dímheasúil a bhí sé leis na Banríona milis agus conas ionsaigh sé an Rí cothrom":** _**"Do you trust him (Trumpkin)? You saw how disrespectful he was to the Gentle Queen and how he attacked the Just King"**

_**"Tá muid an ceann deireanach ar ár ndaoine, deartháir. Ní mór dúinn a ghlacadh ar aon seans a fháil ar an arm reibiliúnach. Ní mór dúinn a chosaint ar ár ríthe agus ríoghna agus ní féidir linn é a dhéanamh ina n-aonar":** _**"We are the last of our people, brother. We need to take any chance to find the rebel army. We must protect our kings and queens and we cannot do it alone"**

**_cac:_ sh*t**

_**ciach air: **_**da** it**

_**an Rí iontach: **_**the Magnificent King (refers to High King Peter)**

_**an Banríona milis: **_**the Gentle Queen (refers to Queen Susan)**

_**an Rí cothrom:**_** the Just King (refers to King Edmund)**

_**an Banríona cróga: **_**the Valiant Queen (refers to Queen Lucy)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello readers! I hope you're enjoying your summer cuz I know I am. For the first time in over four years, I have an event-free summer (well other than my cousin's wedding but that's just 24 hours of my life that I can get back). No cheer camps, no academic programs, no flying up and down the east coast every other week, no nothing! Yay! Sorry, back to you now. I have to say I was kinda bummed with the amount of feedback I got on my last chapter. If any of you guys are writers, you know how unnerving it can be to go from glowing reviews to almost none. So please leave at least some opinion at the bottom of this chapter because I just wanna make sure I'm writing a story that people enjoy. Thank you. And now that my little rant of insecurity is over, I would like to thank sarahwood for reviewing because that removed a lot of doubt about my story and my characters (PS we will find out just how important the fae are in the Narnian world).**

**Disclaimer: if I don't mention this, I have a feeling someone will leave a review saying that I'm guilty of copyright violation. **

"I don't remember this way," Susan stated as Peter led the group along a path lined with boulders.

"That's the problem with girls," Peter replied cockily. "You can't carry a map in your heads."

Dyani skeptically raised an eyebrow.

"That's because our heads have something in them," Lucy teased back.

Peter rolled his eyes while Edmund, Orion, and the other females smirked at Lucy's comeback.

"I wish he'd just listen to the DLF in the first place," Susan commented.

"DLF?" Edmund questioned as he climbed up next to a tree that was growing on top of a boulder.

Lucy shared a mischievous grin with her older sister. "Dear Little Friend."

Lucy, Susan, and Orion kept walking, but Dyani hung back while both she and Edmund looked down at Trumpkin, trying to stifle their laughter.

"Oh that's not at all patronizing, is it?" the dwarf muttered sarcastically.

Edmund and Dyani both chuckled and then proceeded to follow their siblings.

After a few more minutes, Peter walked down a slope in the rocks and found himself standing in front of a dead end.

"I'm not lost," Peter insisted in a voice that sounded like he was trying to convince himself rather than the others.

"No," Trumpkin spoke up before jumping down from a rock. "You're just going the wrong way."

"You last saw Caspian at the Shuddering Woods," Peter reminded the dwarf, "and the quickest way there is to cross at the River Rush."

Trumpkin glanced at the boulders surrounding him. "But unless I'm mistaken, there's no crossing in these parts."

"That explains it, then," Peter retorted. "You're mistaken."

"King Peter, perhaps I can be of assistance," Dyani proposed, trying to ease the tension in the air. "After all, I am, uh..." Dyani trailed off as she looked at the nearby areas, "very well-acquainted with this part of the woods."

Peter chuckled. "I appreciate the offer, Dyani, but I've lived in Narnia a lot longer than you have."

"Technically, you only lived in Narnia for ten years while Dyani's lived here for about fifteen years," Susan corrected.

"Nobody cares about the technicalities, Su!" Peter griped before turning back to Dyani with his most charming smile. "I know what I'm doing. No need to worry your pretty little head about it."

Dyani's nostalgia was immediately replaced with frustration. She was a soldier, not a handmaiden. Luckily, the Gentle Queen intervened before Dyani could say anything offensive to the "Magnificent" King.

"Peter, shouldn't we let those who've lived here within the past century lead us?" Susan argued. "Trumpkin, Dyani, and Orion clearly know these lands better than we do."

"Why must you all underestimate my navigation skills?!" Peter exclaimed. "I am High King, after all, and part of that job is knowing the layout of my kingdom! Now come on!"

The rest of the group gave in and followed Peter, knowing he was far too proud to admit he needed assistance. Orion waited for the others to pass so he cold join his sister in the rear. As the fae siblings walked together, their demeanors changed from determined to timid. Orion looked up at Dyani, his green eyes soft like a bed of moss. Dyani wrapped an arm around her little brother's shoulders and they continued forward.

"_An bhfuil tú cinnte nach féidir linn dul ar bhealach eile?_" Orion asked in a small voice.

"_Más é seo áit ar mhaith ár ríthe agus ríoghna dul, is é ár ndualgas a leanúint,_" Dyani murmured. "_Ar mhaithe lenár ndaoine_."

The seven of them shuffled through the forest until Peter finally stopped at a cliff when he heard the familiar roar of water. With one hand on his sword, he peered over the edge to find the river rushing at least a hundred meters below.

Susan jumped at the opportunity to educate her siblings. "You see, over time, water erodes the earth's soil, carving deeper-"

"Oh shut up!" Peter snapped.

"Is there a way down?" Edmund inquired in a worn out voice.

"Yeah, falling," Trumpkin answered.

"Well we weren't lost," Peter denied as he and his sisters turned to face the dwarf.

"There's a ford near Beruna," the dwarf stated. "How do you feel about swimming?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Edmund noticed how Dyani's whole body immediately stiffened and her eyes widened in fear. However, the redheaded fae did not voice an objection.

"I'd rather that than walking," Susan mumbled.

Everybody began to retreat from the cliff except for Lucy, who suddenly saw a familiar sight on the other side of the canyon.

"Aslan?" the youngest Pevensie questioned before she broke into a smile. "It's Aslan! It's Aslan over there!" Lucy exclaimed as she looked back to the others and pointed across the gorge.

The rest of the group turned around, squinting their eyes and craning their necks to catch sight of the famous golden mane.

"Don't you see?! He's right-" Lucy whipped her head around to point out where the lion was standing, but her grin faded as she saw that the opposing cliff was empty. "...there."

"Do you see him now?" Trumpkin asked in a cynical voice.

"I'm not crazy," Lucy replied. "He was there! He wanted us to follow him!"

Peter, however, did not seem convinced. "I'm sure there are any number of lions in this wood," Peter explained gently. "Just like that bear."

"I think I know Aslan when I see him," Lucy retorted.

Trumpkin scoffed. "Look, I'm not about to jump off a cliff after someone who doesn't exist."

"The last time I didn't believe Lucy, I ended up looking pretty stupid," Edmund added softly.

Lucy looked gratefully at her brother before fixing her faze on Orion, who had been silently standing off to the side with Dyani.

"Do you believe me?" Lucy questioned.

Orion was unsure of how to answer. He hadn't seen the legendary lion either, but he didn't want to offend Lucy. "I am standing in the presence of Narnian royalty who have returned to save us from over a thousand years of tyrants. After today, I am willing to believe anything, no matter how seemingly impossible. If Queen Lucy claims she laid eyes on Aslan, I will not doubt her."

Lucy beamed at the brunette fae boy. Orion grinned in response before he looked down at his feet nervously. Dyani smirked at the blush creeping all the way to the points of her brother's ears.

Peter looked back and forth between his companions and the opposite cliff. "Why wouldn't I have seen him?" the blonde Pevensie murmured.

"Maybe you weren't looking," Lucy suggested.

Peter sighed. "I'm sorry, Lu."

The older Pevensies walked away from the cliff and gestured for Trumpkin to lead them to the ford. Edmund jerked his head for the others to follow. Orion touched a comforting hand to Lucy's shoulder before continuing after Edmund. However, Dyani could not, in good conscience, allow herself to go anywhere until she wiped that look of utter defeat off of Lucy's face.

Dyani kneeled in front of the young queen. "I believe you, Lucy."

"You do?"

Dyani nodded. "I, too, would see ghosts of my past hiding in these trees."

Lucy opened her mouth to say something, but Dyani cut her off.

"Now before you object and insist that Aslan was not a ghost, let me finish."

Lucy closed her mouth and nodded in consent. At that moment, Edmund had come back to the cliff to retrieve Lucy and Dyani, but when he saw that the two girls were having a serious conversation, he hid behind a tree so he wouldn't interrupt.

"When I was a little girl, I used to play in these woods, oblivious to how vulnerable I was. Sometimes, I would imagine myself as a Narnian princess, strong and fearless. And then I would pretend that Aslan himself appeared to bless me with flight and give me my wings. The dreams seemed so real, yet my parents refused to let me speak so casually of Aslan. But oh how I dreamed of the day I would earn my wings.

"I thought you said only fairies have wings," Lucy spoke up.

"I said that I did not have wings and that I was not a fairy. Fairies are based on faes and created for the use of story-telling. Furthermore, faes have wings. We just have to earn them. However, all of that is beside the point."

"Then what is the point?"

Dyani sighed. She had never told this story to anybody before. Not even Orion knew all of the details.

"I grew up in a fae village not too far from here, the only one in Narnia because the Elders felt we would be safer if we were all together. Five years ago, my village was attacked by Telmarines. Orion and I had been asleep in our hut when I suddenly heard a voice calling out to me. The voice ordered me to grab my weapons, grab my brother, and flee for the woods. I did not know where the voice came from, but somehow I knew to do what it said. I woke up Orion and threw our belongings into a bag. He had no idea what was going on, but all I could tell him was that we needed to escape. The screaming started the moment we stepped out, followed by a wave of fiery arrows that destroyed our home just seconds later. The Telmarines had launched a surprise ambush. I tried to run for the forest, but Orion was so terrified that he stalled us long enough for a Telmarine to notice. I grabbed Orion and we just started sprinting. Eventually, we reached a dead end and the Telmarine were right on our heels. I heard the voice again, instructing me to follow it. I saw this flash of gold leaping over the rocks and swerving around the trees. I chased after the voice with Orion following right behind me. We did not stop running until we found a cluster of rocks behind which we could hide. However, the golden light was waiting for us. For some reason, we were not afraid. It kept us safe and warm throughout the night. When we woke up in the morning, there was no sign that anyone or anything else had even been there. But, sometimes, when I am alone in the forest, I see that flash of gold or hear the echo of that voice."

"It was Aslan!" Lucy exclaimed. "Aslan was the voice that warned you! He was the gold flash that guided you! He saved you!"

Dyani bit her lip nervously. "I guess he did. But what I am saying is-"

"And what of your family?! Your village?! What happened to them?!"

Dyani sighed, realizing that Lucy was too emotional at the moment to hear the most horrific part.

"A story for another time, Lucy." Dyani smiled sadly at Lucy before standing up. "You can come out now, Edmund!" Dyani called out.

_'How did she know?!'_ Edmund thought. Her back was facing the trees so she couldn't have seen him, and he knew how to muffle the sound of his footsteps so she couldn't have heard him. He stepped back farther behind the tree and took a running start at the cliff.

"There you are!" Edmund panted in an attempt to sound winded like he had been running around looking for the girls. "Peter sent me back to find you. Come on, then. Don't want to keep everybody waiting."

Lucy nodded obediently. "Sorry, Ed. We're on our way." Lucy started walking away, but then she suddenly flung her arms around Dyani. "Thank you," Lucy whispered.

Dyani tensed at the unexpected embrace, but after a few seconds, she relaxed and hugged the brunette girl back. "Anytime, my queen," Dyani murmured into Lucy's hair.

After Lucy let go, she skipped off down the path, leaving Edmund and Dyani alone.

Dyani crossed her arms over her chest. "Nice cover-up," she said with a knowing smirk. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough," Edmund remarked as he lifted his eyes up from the ground and hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. "Dyani, I had no idea-"

"You were not supposed to."

"I know but if I had-"

"It does not matter because you were not supposed to." Dyani set her face into an emotionless mask and stalked in the direction of the ford.

On the inside, however, Dyani was a mess of emotions. What was she doing?! Never before had she been this vulnerable and now was definitely not the time for weakness.

As he watched the beautiful fae leave him behind, Edmund had a momentary flashback to being rejected by Hannah. He shook his head to snap out of his stupor and swallow the bile that had formed a lump in his throat. His heart was still healing from the last girl who held it.

...

The sound of axes and hammers and saws echoed across the shores of the river. The Telmarine builders worked endlessly to construct the bridge that would give their people an indescribable advantage over the Narnians. The kings, queens, faes, and dwarf hid behind a stack of cut trees as they searched for a way across the gorge.

"Perhaps this wasn't the best way to come after all," Susan hissed as they all crouched out of sight.

Dyani let out a small sigh of relief. However, at the sight of Miraz on his big white horse, Dyani gasped and flattened both herself and Orion up against the logs, accidentally grabbing on to Edmund's hand.

Edmund stiffened at the contact, but once he realized that the bearded man on the horse was the leader of the Telmarines, he understood completely. He would probably react the same way if that was the White Witch out there on the horse. Edmund squeezed Dyani's hand.

The faes remained silent and unmoving until the sound of hoof beats faded. Once the Telmaranian tyrant was far enough away, Dyani let out a deep breath to calm down, but she forgot about her hand around Edmund's.

Peter caught sight of Edmund holding Dyani's hand, scowled, and snuck off into the forest. Trumpkin armed his bow and followed, soon joined by Susan, Lucy, and Orion. All of a sudden, it occurred to Edmund and Dyani that their fingers were still intertwined. Rather than rip her hand away, Dyani slowly slid her fingers out of Edmund's. Edmund helped her off the ground and the two of them crept into the safety of the woods.

"I am so sorry, Your High- I mean, Edmund. I do not know what came over me," Dyani stammered as they neared to cliff.

"Don't worry about it," Edmund dismissed. "Feel free to hold my hand anytime."

"Excuse me, Edmund," Peter interrupted. "But if you aren't too busy wasting Dyani's time, we have a kingdom to save."

Edmund seethed while Dyani's cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"So," Peter continued as he turned to address Lucy, "where exactly do you think you saw Aslan?"

Lucy slowly turned to face her older siblings, aiming her glare directly at Peter. "I wish you'd all stop trying to sound like grown-ups!" she retorted. "I don't think I saw him, I did see him!"

"I am a grown-up," Trumpkin pointed out with a shrug.

Dyani chuckled softly.

"It was right over-"

A loud crack and the sound of Lucy's blood-curdling scream pierced the air.

"Lucy!" Orion cried out as he dove forward to save the girl.

Orion caught hold of Lucy's wrist and her eyes snapped open so she could see who rescued her.

"Ri, there is a platform right under her feet," Dyani observed. "Lower her just a bit farther."

Orion nodded, his face and neck strained from holding Lucy up, and did what he was instructed. Lucy stretched her feet out as far as she could and felt herself go down until her toes grazed the edge of the rock.

"I'm all good!" Lucy called up.

Orion released his grasp and Lucy dropped down on to the cliff.

"I think Queen Lucy might have just saved the day," Dyani commented with a smile.

...

They all climbed down the cliff side and crossed the stepping stones. At one point, Lucy slipped on a slick rock but was caught by both Orion and Trumpkin. Lucy shot a smile of gratitude at her two friends before pushing ahead. Once everybody finally made it across the gorge, they decided to set up camp for the night.

Dyani, however, could not sleep. She simply laid on her back and gazed up at the starry sky. She looked to her right and couldn't help but smile at the peaceful look on her brother's face as he slept next to Lucy. She looked to her left and heard the hushed sounds of Peter's snoring. Suddenly, a flash of gold caught her attention. Dyani sat straight up and didn't hesitate to follow the gold flash.

Edmund woke to the sound of leaves crunching and whipped his head around to discover that Dyani was gone. He snatched his belt and sword and searched for any sign of Dyani's direction, but with the only light coming from the fireplace, Edmund couldn't even see a footprint. Rather than go back to sleep, Edmund decided to just patrol the nearby area in hopes that he would come across the redheaded girl eventually.

Meanwhile, Dyani felt her stomach tie itself in knots. As the fae crept through the woods, the golden light continuously changed its form from a Cyclops to a unicorn to a Pegasus to a sea serpent. Dyani didn't know whether to feel overjoyed or distraught. However, once the flash of gold reached its destination, Dyani settled on distraught. She felt all the air being sucked out of her lungs as she recognized the charred remains of her village. Dyani stumbled forward until she reached the biggest rubble pile of them all. She had long accepted the likely death of her people, but several seemingly worthless items sent a wave of reality crashing down on Dyani. She collapsed to her knees, let out a guttural cry, and bawled as she cradled the belongings, pouring out years of bottled-up emotions. Seeing all of this here- her father's eye patch, her mother's diamond ring, Zephyr's snake sword, Kai's broken spear head- made everything seem that much more real. Dyani could no longer cling to the shred of hope that her family had somehow survived and was still alive after all these years.

Edmund's head snapped up at what sounded like someone choking. He raced off in the direction of the noise and burst into what appeared to be a ravaged village.

"Dyani?! Are you okay?!"

The female warrior scrambled to her feet and whipped out her sword to defend herself, but let the blade drop to the ground when she saw it was only Edmund. She fell back down to her knees and covered her face with her hands in an attempt to hide her tears.

"Please just go away," Dyani mumbled, her voice laced with sadness.

Edmund sighed and kneeled down next to Dyani. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

Dyani turned away from the boy so he couldn't see her cry. "My duty is to protect you, Your Highness, not the other way around."

"I'm not doing this as your king," Edmund replied. "I'm doing this as your friend."

Dyani lifted her head from her hands. "But I am only a knight and you are-"

"Edmund. To you, I am only Edmund. Not your boss, not your charge, but your friend." Edmund wiped a stray tear from Dyani's cheek. "And as your friend, I want to help you."

Dyani looked down as she stroked her thumb over the black eye patch. Finally, she released a deep breath, reached into her blouse, and pulled out a long gold chain with a locket on it. She opened the clasp to reveal a miniature family portrait. Edmund counted six people in the picture: two adults, two teenagers, and two young children. He noticed how everyone in the picture except for the two children had wings, but they all had pointed ears and were all dressed in their best clothes.

The oldest one in the picture was obviously Dyani's dad. He had long black hair like a raven's wing and sparking violet eyes...well, eye, since he had a black eye patch over his left eye. He had a serious expression and his tanned face was covered in scars, a sign of a life spent in battle. He had a silver torque around his neck that matched his purple and silver wings, which had a few small tears in them.

The petite woman next to him was obviously his wife, but the couple could not be more opposite. While Dyani's father looked like a seasoned soldier who just happened to have wings, Dyani's mother looked like a fairy straight out of a children's storybook. She had long, curly, golden blonde hair and her eyes appeared to be every color of the rainbow. Her fair skin was unblemished and her smile was bright and gentle. Her wings were shaped like butterfly wings and were also rainbow-colored.

The taller of the two teenagers had his mother's fair skin and his father's long straight hair, but the familial resemblance ended there. His platinum blonde hair was pulled back into a sleek low ponytail to show off his shining silver eyes. He appeared to be about fifteen years old and he had airy white and silver wings. The other teenager had tanner skin and medium-length, wavy black hair flopping into his deep ocean blue eyes. He seemed just a year or two younger than the other boy and had flipper-like blue and purple wings. Both teenage boys had confident grins.

There was only one girl in the portrait, maybe age four or five, but Edmund immediately knew who she was. There was a tiger lily pinned in her shoulder-length fiery locks and her eyes shone with warmth. The straight red hair, the sparkly golden eyes, the gleaming smile, it was Dyani. Therefore, the toddler in the picture must have been Orion. He couldn't have been older than two with his fluffy brown curls, chubby cheeks, and big green eyes.

"My parents had this portrait made when I was four years old, when Prince Caspian's father was king. Under his rule, Narnia had a brief period of peace. Caspian IX was a believer in the old ways, but his reign only lasted for a year. He died just a few months after this portrait was made, and his wife passed away a few years later. That was when Lord Miraz began his attacks on the last of the Narnians."

"So when you said a Telmarine had spotted you and Orion trying to escape..."

"That Telmarine was Lord Miraz," Dyani confirmed. "He just sat there on his horse, grinning wickedly as he watched his men tear our homes to shreds."

"I'm guessing there's a reason someone as high and mighty as Miraz would accompany a raid on a Narnian village," Edmund theorized.

Dyani nodded. "The faes had always been the most outstanding rebels, especially my father. He spent his whole life fighting for the freedom of Narnians, which is why he was appointed as the fae general...which is what got him killed."

Edmund gave the fae a look that urged her to explain.

Dyani sighed. "There was a war council that night. Every fae over the age of thirteen was there, even the women. That was how the Telmarines managed to kill them all."

"Because they were all in one place. Let me guess: it was an enclosed building so they couldn't just fly away?"

Dyani nodded grimly. "The strongest race of warriors in Narnia wiped out with a single cannonball, a handful of flaming arrows, and two or three dozen hired soldiers."

The tears flooding Dyani's eyes finally became too much for her and she began to weep. Edmund suddenly felt the need to do something, anything, to comfort the heartbroken fae. He cautiously draped an arm over Dyani's shoulders. However, what he did not expect was for Dyani to lean into his embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Dyani," Edmund murmured as he ran his hands through her silky hair. "I'm so, so sorry."

The two teenagers remained in their silent embrace until they were interrupted by yelling coming from near their campsite.

...

Lucy's eyes snapped open at the sound of a twig breaking, waking her up from her dream about Aslan. She sat up and took in her surroundings.

"Susan, wake up!" Lucy whispered to her older sister.

"Huh?" Susan mumbled sleepily before rolling over on her stomach. "Certainly, Lu. Whatever you like."

Lucy heard another stick crack and decided to go investigate. She walked along the exact path from her dream, but this time, there were no flower nymphs to giggle at her or trees to dance for her.

"Wake up," Lucy ordered softly as she ran her hand down the tree's bark.

Unfortunately, the tree did not obey. Lucy's shoulders dropped in defeat and she continued down the trail until she heard a familiar growling sound.

"Aslan?" Lucy called out hopefully.

Suddenly, an arm reached out from behind her and pulled her into the bushes. Lucy let out a few muffled screams until she saw that her attacker was none other than Peter. Peter removed his hand from over his baby sister's mouth and jerked his head toward the trees where Lucy had been heading. The siblings poked their heads out from behind the bush to see a large minotaur stomping through the woods. Peter put a finger to his lips, gestured for Lucy to stay where she was, and crept out from their hiding place.

Peter had just pulled his sword out of its sheath when a teenage warrior jumped out of nowhere and, letting out a battle cry, attacked Peter. The blonde boy instinctively guarded himself and the two of them proceeded to swing, slash, and stab at each other. Peter soon managed to get the higher ground and knocked the other's boy's blade out of his hands. Peter swung his sword at his opponent, but the other teenager ducked and Peter's blade lodged itself in a tree. The other boy quickly stood up, kicked Peter right in his bruised ribs, and tried to pull the sword out of the bark. Peter quickly regained his senses and snatched a random rock off the ground, ready to bash the warrior's head in.

"NO, STOP!" Lucy cried as she ran out from behind the bushes.

Both boys froze in their positions and looked at the terrified girl who dared to interrupt their brawl. All of a sudden, creatures from all species- dwarves, centaurs, satyrs, minotaurs, and talking animals- appeared in the clearing, each carrying a weapon of some sort. Peter's opponent managed to remove the sword from the tree, but he did not show any immediate intention to use it.

Peter finally got a good look at his attacker. He appeared to be about seventeen years old and his tanned skin, dark eyes, and long brown hair were all the traits of Telmarines.

"Prince Caspian?" Peter questioned.

"Yes," the brunette boy confirmed in his strange accent. "And who are you?"

"Peter!" Susan yelled as she, Trumpkin, and Orion, who was dressed in his full armor, ran into the clearing and stood beside Lucy.

Caspian looked down at the blade in his hand and noticed the lion's head on the hilt.

"High King Peter," the prince breathed out.

"I believe you called," Peter replied casually.

"Well, yes, but...I thought you'd be older," Caspian admitted nervously.

Peter held back the urge to scream at everybody's insistence that he was too young, but he kept his temper in check.

"If you like, we could come back in a few years..." Peter offered as he pretended to consider leaving.

"No!" Caspian objected. "No, that's alright. You're just...you're not exactly what I expected."

Caspian let his gaze linger on Susan, who blushed at the attention.

"Neither are you," the Gentle Queen commented as she looked over all the Narnians who had gathered so she wouldn't have to meet Caspian's eyes.

The minotaur from earlier grunted in response.

Edmund and Dyani, who was also dressed in her full armor, rushed up from the fae village to join the others. They hung back toward the edge of the crowd, not wanting to draw attention.

"A common enemy unites even the oldest of foes," a wise badger explained.

"We have anxiously awaited your return, my liege," a large mouse spoke up as he scurried into the clearing. "Our hearts and swords are at your service." The mouse bowed respectfully to Peter.

"Oh my gosh, he is so cute!" Lucy gushed in a quiet voice as she leaned toward Susan.

"Who said that?!" the mouse interrogated as he whipped out his sword, challenging anyone who dared to call him cute.

"Sorry," Lucy apologized bashfully.

The mouse was immediately humbled as soon as he saw that the offending party was none other than the young Queen Lucy.

"Oh, uh, Your Majesty, with the greatest respect, I do believe 'courageous,' 'courteous,' or 'chivalrous' might more befit a knight of Narnia," the mouse rambled.

"Well," Peter interrupted, "at least we know one of you can handle a blade."

"He should," Dyani spoke up as she removed her helmet and strode into the center of the clearing. "After all, he was the one who taught me almost everything I know." Dyani stopped when she was in front of the mouse and, holding her helmet under one arm, kneeled in front of him. "Hello, Reepicheep."

The mouse seemed at a loss for words, along with the rest of the crowd. He traced the side of Dyani's face with his paw. Dyani smiled back.

"Could this be true?" the mouse murmured. "I see the girl I once knew in the woman who stands before me. Is that really you, my little Ani?"

Rather than answer, Dyani smirked. "Orion, are you not going to greet our old teacher?" she called out without taking her eyes off of Reepicheep.

Orion finally removed his helmet and joined his sister. He looked just as shocked as Reepicheep.

"I had heard rumors of a phoenix and a griffin haunting the forests and terrorizing the Telmarine camps," Reepicheep confessed, "but I never imagined...I mean after all these years...I had assumed you had been captured by the Telmarines when you left for patrol and never returned."

"'Duty before desire,'" Dyani quoted. "You taught us the necessary skills to be knights of Narnia. It was time for us to move on."

Edmund tensed. Did this mean Dyani would leave them, too, once Miraz was defeated and Caspian was on the throne?

"However, perhaps now is not the best time to reminisce." Dyani stood up and faced the Pevensie family. "King Peter, your army is in good hands. When it comes to swordfighting, Reepicheep is the best."

"Yes, indeed," the mouse agreed enthusiastically. "And I have recently put it to good use securing weapons for your army, sire."

"Good. Because we're going to need every sword we can get," Peter stated.

"Well then, you will probably be wanting yours back," Caspian guessed as he offered up Peter's blade.

Peter reclaimed his weapon, slid it in his sheath, and led his new soldiers out of the clearing. Things finally seemed to be falling into place for Narnia.

**"_An bhfuil tú cinnte nach féidir linn dul ar bhealach?_": "Are you sure we cannot go another way?"**

**"_Más é seo áit ar mhaith ár ríthe agus ríoghna dul, is é ár ndualgas a leanúint. Ar mhaithe lenár ndaoine._": "If this is where our kings and queens want to go, it is our duty to follow. For the good of our people." **

**Well that was...interesting. I would have had this finished earlier but my computer logged me out the other day just as I wrote up the whole scene with Peter and Caspian so I lost all that day's work. Leave some feedback PLEASE! And if any of you have any ideas as to why Dyani and Orion left Reepicheep, I'm all ears. Love you all! See you again soon! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Happy New Year everybody! Per usual, sorry about taking such an agonizingly long time to update. My excuse this time is that college is freaking kicking my...well you get the picture. Plus, I accidentally left my DVD of Prince Caspian at home all semester and even when I did think to ask my mom to mail it to me, I realized that my laptop (bought specifically for college) doesn't have a dang disc slot. Yes I probably could have rented the movie on YouTube, but that brings us right back to the part about my butt and how thoroughly college is kicking it. Sigh, my private college prep school did not prep me for this. Therefore I am going to cast all the blame on my middle/high school for my drop from salutatorian to average B student (not that there's anything wrong with B's but if it weren't for my lousy chemistry professor giving me a C+, I would totally have a B+ average instead).**

**Okay, now that my little pity party is over, I'll move on to the part that at least some of you guys actually care about. I see that my self-conscious rant about the lack of reviews for chapter 3 worked because I received a record number of reviews on chapter 4. And because of that influx of written praise, I would like to give virtual cookies to the following people: _Your Idiot_ (in case nobody picked up on the use of the word "hun" in the review, that reviewer was my boyfriend...well now ex-boyfriend but still my best friend so I guess I can still call him my idiot), _Echo Haleth_ (so glad you loved the fluff cuz I did too), _tinkbooklover_ (I promise Susan and Caspian's fluff will come soon), _misty. wings_ (sorry for ruining Dyani for you but I wanted to get at least some of her backstory out of the way so I can focus on the military/political parts of the story as they come up), _halcyontides_ (thanks for your sympathy and simultaneous enthusiasm), and _Guest_ (I know this update isn't exactly ASAP but your glowing words light up my day every time I read them). My gratitude also goes out to any new followers and favoriters (wow my fancy university has done wonders for my vocabulary and grammar skills). You're all so wonderful and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last one.**

**Disclaimer: I'm a college freshman...do you really think I can afford the rights to this story?**

"Well it's good you have troops," Peter commented as he and Caspian walked side-by-side through the woods, "but we need some fortifications, somewhere to train."

Edmund rolled his eyes in annoyance as he and his siblings trailed along behind the two young men. Peter had been acting bossy ever since they returned to Narnia, but now it seemed as if Peter had brought his "superiority" to a whole new level, almost as if he felt threatened by Caspian.

"Is he always this arrogant?" Dyani whispered into Edmund's ear, like she had read his mind.

Edmund chuckled. "I think he's just trying to-"

"Dyani?" Peter called out. "Care to join us up here, angel? We could use your expertise."

Edmund's jaw dropped in shock. He couldn't believe that Peter would be so conceited that he assumed Dyani would accept such a term of endearment. Fortunately, Dyani didn't fall for Peter's act. The redheaded fae huffed in frustration but she sucked up her pride and quickened her step to catch up with the blonde king. Edmund watched as Dyani walked stiffly beside Peter, keeping one hand at her side and the other on the her sword handle. Edmund couldn't hear what Peter was saying to Caspian and Dyani, but judging by the way he was flailing his hands around theatrically, Peter was probably regaling them with stories of his past military successes under the guise of providing tactical advice.

Behind the irked Just King were the dwarves, the talking badger and rat, and the youngest of the Pevensie children.

"So, what are they like?" Trufflehunter the badger questioned.

Trumpkin grunted. "Malcontents, complainers, stubborn as mules in the morning."

"Oh," the dark-haired dwarf Nikabrik replied. "So you like them, then."

Trumpkin rolled his eyes before muttering, "Well enough."

Upon hearing that, Lucy shared a smirk with Reepicheep and chuckled amusingly.

Suddenly, the Pevensie family and the Narnians reached the edge of the forest and stared at an ancient fortress at the other side of a giant field.

"_Tá sé seo dochreidte_!" Dyani whispered in amazement.

"I don't remember any place like this," Peter muttered.

"I do," Dyani murmured before glancing at the younger Pevensie siblings, "from a long time ago...almost like a dream"

Edmund and Lucy smiled softly because they knew exactly what Dyani was referring to.

"Well let's go make that dream into a reality!" Peter spoke up as he tried to drape his arm over Dyani's shoulders.

Edmund seethed at his brother's forwardness. Was Peter simply oblivious to the way Dyani immediately tensed at the unexpected contact? Luckily, Dyani was able to quickly duck out from under Peter's hold.

"My apologies, Your Highness, but my neck and shoulders are still tender from the bear attack," Dyani rattled off. "Besides, it would be considered improper etiquette for a knight to be interacting with the High King in such a manner with so many witnesses present."

Peter clearly wanted to argue, but Dyani's mention of etiquette was the sticking point in her argument. Peter sighed and nodded in submission before he gestured for Caspian to lead the way. However, the Valiant Queen was not so easily fooled.

"There is no etiquette rule, is there?" Lucy inquired in hushed tones as she snuck up behind Dyani.

Dyani's cheeks flared, but she couldn't hide her impish grin. "King Peter does not know that."

Lucy and Dyani giggled like a pair of troublemaking children.

Suddenly, Lucy had a sly look in her eye. "And if Edmund tries to do the same?"

Dyani's laughter stopped as her ears reddened. "I only said it was improper for the High King," the fae mumbled.

This caused Lucy to howl like a hyena, drawing strange looks from several Narnians. Lucy snapped her mouth shut and ducked her head at the unwanted attention.

"Come on, Lu!" Susan called out. "You and Ed need to stop dawdling already!"

Lucy gave Dyani one last look, wiggled her eyebrows mischievously, and scurried off after her oldest siblings. Despite the girl's question about Edmund, Dyani couldn't help but chuckle at Lucy's humor. Suddenly, Dyani began to shiver. She felt like ice was shooting down her spine.

"Dyani?" Edmund spoke up as he placed a hand on her shoulder, his eyes voicing his concern. "Is everything okay? You seem really pale all of a sudden."

"I am fine. I just got a little cold," Dyani dismissed.

However, having Edmund's hand on her shoulder made Dyani feel warmer already. Unfortunately, she noticed the way Peter was glaring at Edmund.

"Um, should you not be joining your siblings?" the redheaded knight added. "I believe they are waiting for you."

Edmund finally took his eyes off Dyani long enough to see that his older brother was indeed giving him the _'get over here'_ look.

The Just King sighed and retracted his hand. "You're probably right. But before I go up there, I'd like to apologize for Peter's behavior. All knights deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of gender."

Dyani brightened at Edmund's words. The two of them shared a smile until...

"Edmund!" Peter snapped. "Hurry up already! In case you didn't notice, there's a war going on. We don't have time for shameless flirting."

"_You were certainly singing a different tune five minutes ago_," Edmund thought angrily before he stomped over to stand beside Susan. However, his thoughts drifted back to Dyani and the way she shivered. She was a fire fae. By definition, she should be in a state of constant warmth. Her sudden chill didn't make sense. Edmund made a note to speak with Dyani about it later because, unlike Peter, Edmund actually cared about Dyani's wellbeing.

While Edmund was having his inner monologue, the Pevensie's and Caspian strode across the field and along the path of fallen columns, stopping as they reached the entrance to the temple. Centaurs lined up along the sides and whipped out their swords to create an arching tunnel for their kings and queens to travel under. The Pevensie's smiled at the sight and walked forward, but Caspian hesitated. The Telmarine prince stared down at the ground, as if unworthy to be standing with the kings and queens of old.

"Is there a problem, my lord?" Dyani questioned as she and Orion stepped up to either side of Caspian.

Caspian almost jumped in surprise before turning his head toward the young woman. She had claimed to be a fae, but Dyani and Orion's lack of wings continued to baffle Caspian. Furthermore, his professor had told him stories of the faes and their famous warrior talents, yet Caspian could hardly picture these two harming anybody.

"N-no," Caspian denied. "Proceed."

Dyani and Orion nodded obediently but stayed at Caspian's side as they followed behind the Pevensie's. Meanwhile, Lucy grinned lightheartedly as one of the centaur soldier's had to his son lift his heavy sword so it did not harm anyone passing below. After what felt like forever, the members of the procession finally reached the inside of the fortress. They were greeted by the clanging and clacking of fauns, minotaurs, dwarves, and countless other creatures forging armor and weapons. Dyani could see the joy in Orion's eyes as he gazed upon all the crafting going on around him, beckoning for his inner-tinker to join, but luckily Orion was able to restrain himself...for now.

"It may not be what you are used to," Caspian admitted as the Pevensie siblings took it all in, "but it is defensible."

"Peter!" Susan beckoned from the other side of the room. "You may want to see this."

Caspian furrowed his brow in curiosity, yet Peter plucked a torch from the wall and followed his sister without question. However, Dyani and Orion did not move an inch. They could not assume that they were permitted to follow the royal family around.

"Well come on, then, you two" Susan added while looking directly at the fae knights. "I think you'll find this interesting, too."

And so the seven young adults traveled down the dark passageway, but it was not until the light from Peter's torch illuminated a certain something that they realized why Susan found the tunnel so compelling. They stared in wonder as Peter lit up cave drawings of the Pevensie's tales in Narnia. From the first meeting with Mr. Tumnus at the lamppost, to Lucy and Susan riding Aslan into battle, to the four siblings taking their thrones at Cair Paravel, it was all there.

"It's us," Susan breathed out in amazement.

"What is this place?" Lucy asked as she looked at Caspian in confusion.

"You don't know?" Caspian countered.

The blank looks on the Pevensie's faces was enough to answer the Telmarine's question. Caspian picked up a torch of his own and gestured for the others to follow him. Dyani moved to proceed behind the others, but that icy shiver took over again. She stumbled in her step, only to be caught by her brother.

"Dyani?!" Orion exclaimed in a scared voice.

_"Ní raibh a bhraitheann tú go bhfuil?" _Dyani whispered through her chattering teeth.

"_Bhraitheann_ _cad é_?" Orion responded.

The cold sensation vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Dyani shook her head, trying to figure out what had happened and why she was the only one who felt that chill.

_"Ná bac leis. Ní mór dúinn chun teacht suas leis __na daoine eile,"_ Dyani insisted.

Orion clearly wanted to argue, but he knew better than to pester his sister after a moment of vulnerability. The faes rushed down the tunnel until they were walking alongside Caspian and the Pevensie family, just in time to walk into a vast room. Caspian was about to use his torch to light up the pyres, but Dyani cut in.

"Please, allow me, my lord," the fire fae requested.

Caspian did not see a torch in Dyani's hands, but nodded in agreement nonetheless. With that sign of permission, Dyani lit up her fingertips, much to the Telmarine prince's surprise and the Pevensie's amusement, and dipped her fingers in the oil. The pyre flared to life and the fire sped around the room, lighting up every nook and cranny. Flames licked at an intricate carving of a great lion in the center of the back wall. When the entire room was illuminated, the Pevensie family gaped at the familiar ruins surrounding a cracked stone table.

Out of the four siblings, Lucy was the only one brave enough to approach the legendary table. She ran her hand over the ancient runes and looked back at Susan.

"He must know what he's doing," Lucy spoke up.

But Susan could not bring herself to crush Lucy's hopes. She simply stared longingly at the carving of Aslan.

"I think it's up to us now," Peter announced. "Dyani, put out the fire."

Dyani nodded obediently, and with an inward jerk of her hands, all of the flames (except for those lighting the boys' torches) snuffed out.

Suddenly, a shady chuckle echoed from the entrance to the chamber. The seven young adults whipped around to see a silhouette leaning against one of the columns with his arms crossed over his chest.

"So the whispers and rumors circling around the halls are true...the Kings and Queens were found in the woods with two fae runaways. And wingless ones at that," the mysterious figure taunted.

"He who hides in the shadows like a coward should not throw stones," Orion retorted. "Show your face!"

The stranger stepped into the light and Dyani suddenly knew the cause of her shivers earlier. The intruder had ivory-colored skin, penetrating ice blue eyes, and straight white hair that flopped over one eye and was cut jaggedly. He was dressed in reflective silver armor with a furry blue monster design on the breastplate.

The mysterious figure smirked wickedly. "Oh look who it is. I should have known that old Brennain's babies would be the only other survivors."

Edmund clenched his fists. Whoever this person was, he had no right to mock Dyani and Orion about their past. Fortunately, the hot-headed Dyani held herself together.

"And I should have know that the chill in the air was all too familiar," Dyani replied bitterly as she crossed her arms angrily. "Surprised to see you here, Ivan. Considering how many times you bragged about being the next fae general, I thought you would have been at the war council that day, kissing up to the village elders as usual."

"Do I detect a little negativity, Sparky?" Ivan questioned as he moved closer to Dyani, as if challenging her. "Is it jealousy that I have something you want...or anger that you will never have it?"

Dyani's gold eyes flashed dangerously and her face contorted in rage. If Edmund wasn't there to block the phoenix knight, blood would have been spilled before the Telmarines even arrived. Unfortunately, nobody anticipated a temper tantrum from the mild-mannered Orion, who leapt at the unsuspecting white-haired fae and shoved him against the walls.

"How dare you speak to my sister that way!" Orion screamed.

The brunette fae started hurling extremely obscene insults, but luckily he kept them in the fae language. However, judging by the flinches, winces, and gasps coming from Dyani, Orion was being pretty explicit.

"Orion!" Lucy cried in horror at the sight of her friend being so aggressive.

Hearing the Valiant Queen call out Orion's name proved to be a useful distraction. Ivan grinned, whipped out his icicle-like white and blue wings, and flew straight out of Orion's grip, right up to the ceiling. The Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve gasped in shock.

"Looks like you are not so special after all, Sparky."

**I swear I planned to take this chapter farther, but I head back to campus today with classes starting tomorrow so I realized that my best option was to put this out and leave you with a promise for a kick-butt chapter before and/or after spring break. Please please please leave reviews and I hope you enjoy this new character because I had to establish the personal and military importance of the fae people somehow. **

**"_Tá sé seo dochreidte_!": "This is incredible!"**

**"_Ní raibh a bhraitheann tú go bhfuil?"_: "Did you not feel that?"**

**"_Bhraitheann_ _cad é_?": "Feel what?"**

**_"Ná bac leis. Ní mór dúinn chun teacht suas leis __na daoine eile"_: "Never mind. We need to go catch up with the others."**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well it's after spring break so I didn't break my promise about a story update...okay yeah even I knew that was weak but hey you don't know when my spring break is so as far as you know, I could be just getting back from it ;p. Anywho, before I jump into thanking my awesome reviewers, I wanted to give you a little bit of good news. Remember how I said I had a lousy chemistry professor last semester and I got a C+ in the class because of it? Well, I got a new chem prof this semester and he's 500% better than my last one so now I have a solid B+ average for chemistry (after test grades of 94, 86, and 92)!**

**And now that I've divulged my little personal success, it is my pleasure to thank the following people: _tinkbooklover_ (yeah I know that chapter was super overdue, and of course I would mention the people who cared enough to review chapter 4), _TellYouAllAboutIt_ (thanks, that means a lot), _GwendolynPenguin22_ (I love your enthusiasm, plus you're supposed to love Dyani and Edmund and sorta hate Dyani and Peter), and _halcyontides_ (well thank you very much, and while Orion and Lucy may only be 13, they're still old enough to be beyond the "eww cooties" phase).**

**Disclaimer: maybe I should switch to an English major...that way some future fanfiction writer would have to say they don't own MY story like I have to say I don't own THIS story**

After Orion's little scuffle with Ivan, Dyani sent him to join one of the fauns on lookout duty so he would have a chance to cool down. The brown-haired fae had only been up there for a few hours when he spotted a Telmarine soldier on horseback spying on the Narnian hideout from behind some shrubs. Orion ordered the faun to go warn Peter and Caspian while he tried to use his plant magic to snake the shrubs' and trees' roots around the horse's legs. Unfortunately, the soldier was too far away and that distance weakened Orion's powers.

_'First I let my anger get the better of me, and now I let a spy escape. Some knight of Narnia I am,'_ Orion thought bitterly.

...

"It's only a matter of time," Peter announced as the war meeting began. "Miraz's men and war machines are on their way. That means those same men aren't protecting his castle."

"What do you propose we do, Your Majesty?" Reepicheep questioned.

Unfortunately, there were two young men in attendance who were accustomed to the title of 'Your Majesty'...both of whom simultaneously voiced their suggestions.  
"We need to get ready for it," Peter recommended.  
"To start planning for-" Caspian advised.

The two teenage boys locked eyes, waiting to see who would back down first. Eventually, Caspian nodded in submission and Peter pushed ahead.

"Our only hope is to strike them before they strike us," the blonde king proposed.

"That's crazy! No one has ever taken that castle!" the Telmarine prince argued.

Dyani stood beside the Stone Table, trying to focus on the matter at hand, but it was rather hard with Ivan taunting her from across the room. The fire fae steamed as the ice fae would flash her that infuriating smirk before winking and blatantly flitting his wings. The only thing that brought her attention back to the meeting was the sound of a raised voice.

"But we have the advantage here!" Caspian insisted.

"If we dig in, we could probably hold them off indefinitely," Susan reasoned as she stepped up to stand at Caspian's side.

Peter's glare shifted from Caspian to Susan, cloaking the entire room in silence.

"I, for one, feel safer underground," Trufflehunter spoke up.

However, Peter carried on. He turned directly toward Caspian. "Look, I appreciate what you've done here, but this isn't a fortress. It's a tomb."

"Yes," Edmund joined in. "And if they're smart, the Telmarines will just wait and starve us out."

"We could collect nuts!" a talking squirrel offered enthusiastically.

"Yes! And throw them at the Telmarines!" Reepicheep pretended to agree before switching to a serious expression. "Shut up!"

Dyani couldn't help but chuckle at her rat teacher. He would give them the same double-attitude treatment when she or Orion made an impractical proposition...at that age, it was usually Dyani.

"I think you know where I stand, sire," Reepicheep proceeded, this time in a much more respectful tone because it was directed toward his king.

Peter sighed as his eyes roamed over the troops gathered in the room, stopping when they reached Glenstorm, the leader of the centaurs. "If I get your troops in, can you handle the guards?"

Glenstorm's eyes flickered toward Caspian, as if he was trying to decide which king to obey, but eventually he settled on Peter. "Or die trying, my liege," the centaur promised with a solemn nod.

"That's what I'm worried about," Lucy chimed in from her seat on the Stone Table.

"Sorry?" Peter replied as he squinted at his baby sister, like he had suddenly remembered she was in the room.

"You're all acting like there's only two options: dying here...or dying there."

"I'm not sure you've really been listening, Lu-" Peter began to patronize.

"No you're not listening!" Lucy cut in. "Or have you forgotten who really defeated the White Witch, Peter?"

Peter's face hardened into stone. "I think we've waited for Aslan long enough."

And with that, the High King of Narnia turned his back on the Great Lion - both literally and metaphorically - and stormed out of the sacred room.

...

That night, once the sun set behind the trees and the night sky shrouded the land in darkness, Peter's plan was put into play. Edmund and Orion suited up and waited for their ride to Miraz's castle. Meanwhile, Dyani was inspecting her little brother's armor to minimize the number of vulnerable spots.

"Ani?" Orion said in an even quieter voice than normal.

"Yes, Ri?"

Orion gulped as he looked at Edmund standing only two meters away. The last thing he needed was for the Just King to think of Orion as an even bigger mess-up than he already was.

_"An féidir leat a chur ar mo áit_?" Orion murmured.

Dyani was taken aback at her brother's request. "_Cén fáth go mbeadh tú ag iarraidh a leithéid de rud?"_

_"Tá tú an ridire níos fearr. Thairis sin, tar éis an méid a tharla níos luaithe, ní féidir liom dul a bheith iontaofa den sórt sin post tábhachtach_."

Dyani sighed and placed her hands on the shoulders of the only family she had left. "_Orion, chosain tú an onóir do dheirfiúr agus do theaghlach ar fad. Chonaic tú agus iarracht a ghabháil ina shaighdiúir namhaid. Tá tú níos mó ná fiú do theideal mar ridire...agus ba mhaith liom a muinín agat le mo shaol."_

Orion's eyes watered and he threw his arms around his sister, who kissed his forehead and gently stroked his hair, just like their mother had done when they were little. Suddenly, a griffin appeared overhead and slowly descended until it landed on the roof of the temple.

"Ready, Orion?" Edmund asked softly.

Orion looked up at his sister.

"Time for you to ride on your namesake," Dyani said with a smile.

Orion couldn't help but grin at Dyani as he stepped away to join Edmund.

"We'll see you soon," Edmund added.

Dyani nodded, and before she knew it, the griffin wrapped its talons around both Edmund and Orion and took off into the starless sky. The fire fae sighed, silently praying that she was doing the right thing. _'Mother, Father, if you can hear me, please guard over Orion tonight. He is the only family I have left. And Aslan, somewhere deep in my heart I know you are real, so I am begging you, with every ounce of my being, to keep Edmund out of harm's way. He has shown me so much kindness in our short time together and I would never be able to live with myself if his generosity was repaid with the cold steel of a Telmarine's blade.'_

"Typical Edmund! Always taking the easy jobs and leaving the real work to the big boys!" Peter commented from the door. "Anyway, come on Dyani. You need to get suited up. I wouldn't want anything to damage that pretty little face of yours."

Dyani swallowed the bile that crept up her throat and shuffled back toward the entrance back into the fort. "As you wish, Your Highness."

Suddenly, the blonde boy grabbed Dyani by her upper left arm, causing her to hiss in pain. "My wish involves something a little different," Peter whispered into her ear.

"Now is neither the time nor the place, my king. In case you have not noticed, we have an ambush - one planned by you - to attend to."

The young knight's logic seemed to satisfy the oldest Pevensie, causing him to slacken his grip. Dyani nodded her head tersely before quickly descending into the fort, nearly knocking over both Susan and Caspian.

"What was that about?" Caspian asked as he gestured toward Dyani.

"She's just playing hard to get," Peter responded casually.

"Or maybe she just doesn't want you to 'get' her," Susan proposed, putting air quotes around the 'get'.

Peter seemed to consider the idea for a moment. "Nah!" he dismissed with a wave of his hand.

Meanwhile, down in an abandoned corner of the armory Dyani had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from squealing as she pulled on her armor. _'This is ridiculous!'_ Dyani thought in frustration as she removed her left shoulder guard and began to pull down on her blouse. The bear attack was a couple days ago. There was no reason that her arm should still be...infected?!

"_Cac_!" Dyani cursed under her breath once she saw her left bicep. The five slashes the bear's claws had left in her arm were red and inflamed - but not in the good way **(AN fire fae...red and inflamed...get it?).**

"Oi! Dyani, you comin'?" a gruff voice called out.

Dyani squeaked in surprised as she clapped her hand over her wound - in retrospect, a foolish move on her part - and spun around to face a certain blonde dwarf.

"Well, you comin' or not?!" Trumpkin asked irritably.

"I will meet you up there momentarily," Dyani replied with a forced grin.

Trumpkin raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but he continued upstairs nonetheless.

As soon as the dwarf was gone, Dyani let out a long, breathy "Ow!" Perhaps slapping an infected wound was not the best idea. But she was determined to grin and bear it, just as her father had always taught her, just as her older brothers had always taught her, just as Reepicheep had always taught her, and just as Dyani had always done. And so, the redheaded fae dressed her wound, put on her armor, and joined the others for a night that Miraz would never forget.

...

The griffin silently soared through the night sky before stealthily landing on one of the towers of the Telmarine castle. The guard glanced up but, seeing nothing, returned to watching for invaders...not knowing he was about to be snatched by one The griffin released Orion and Edmund before wrapping his talons around the guard and shooting up into the air.

The two boys dropped to the floor and Edmund immediately moved toward the edge of the tower. He glanced down, the castle courtyard hundreds of feet below, but he swallowed his fear and pulled out his electric torch. Edmund clicked his flashlight on and off in the exact sequence Susan had taught him. The Narnians on the ground noticed the signal and began to move in...including Reepicheep and his mice brethren, who snuck into the courtyard from underneath the cobblestones.

Meanwhile, five more griffins flew in carrying Susan, Peter, Caspian, Trumpkin, and Dyani. Caspian whipped out his blade and, dangling from one of his griffin's talons, knocked the guard off one of the towers. Edmund took that as his cue to wave his flashlight back and forth, which unfortunately caught the attention of two of the guards below. They aimed their crossbows up at the tower, but neither of the griffin-riding-girls would let Edmund get taken down by a bolt to the neck. Susan took aim and shot down one of the guards with her arrow while Dyani knocked the other one unconscious with a single throw of her gold chakram. The griffins landed on the platform just long enough to drop off their passengers before taking off into the sky once more. Peter slashed down the last of the nearby guards with his sword, allowing the five of them to check their surroundings for any more attackers.

**(AN I'm not going to describe everybody's role in the ambush because that would require rewriting a whole scene out of the movie and as good as that whole scene may be, that's just too tedious, so I'm pretty much just going to focus on the role of the Pevensie's, Caspian, Dyani, and Orion.)**

Orion and Edmund kept watch from the lookout tower while everyone else carried out their parts. Caspian was the first to scale down the wall, followed by Peter, Susan, Trumpkin, and Dyani.

"Professor?" Caspian hissed as he quietly knocked on a dark window. When he heard no reply, the former Telmarine prince picked the locked with his knife and proceeded inside.

Once Dyani, being the last one to climb down, gathered the rope and made it inside, she closed the window and joined the others.

"I have to find him," Caspian stated as he cradled a pair of spectacles.

"You don't have time," Peter insisted in hushed tones.

"You need to get the gate open," Susan reminded the dark-skinned boy.

"You wouldn't even be here without him!" Caspian argued. "And neither would I."

Peter sighed and glanced up at his companions with a conflicted look in his eyes.

"You and I can deal with Miraz," Susan admitted.

"And I can still get to the gate in time," Caspian added.

Peter nodded in submission. "Dyani, I need you to-"

But the redheaded fae would hear none of it. "If you think I am going to stand guard and let someone else take care of the man who wiped out my people and has haunted my nightmares for five years, you are sadly mistaken. If anyone is going to kill that _ bastaird_ tonight, it will be me."

Seeing there was no negotiating with Dyani, Peter surrendered. Caspian raced to the dungeons to find Professor Cornelius while Trumpkin headed out to meet up with Reepicheep and the other mice.

...

Several minutes later, Dyani, Peter, and Susan poked their heads out from behind a column turning into the corridor leading up to Miraz's bedchambers.

"Now, Dyani, remember that we're only here to lock Miraz in the dungeons, not to roast him like a human campfire," Susan whispered in a patronizing voice.

"I promise I will not burn a single hair on his head," Dyani swore with a hand over her heart.

"Good," Susan sighed in relief.

"At least not until after we have him locked in a cell," Dyani added with a smirk before she crept to the next corner.

Susan groaned in exasperation.

Peter, on the other hand, seemed anything but displeased with the fire fae's plan. "This probably isn't the time...but man that's hot!" he said in a husky voice as he moved to follow Dyani.

Susan face-palmed at Peter's hormonal distraction.

Dyani snuck down the hallway, but stopped when she saw the two dead guards laying at the door to Miraz's room. She looked back to the two older Pevensie's and jerked her head toward the bodies.

"Uh oh," Peter muttered under his breath.

Dyani pressed her ear to the door and heard several muffled voices, one of them sounding just like Caspian's...and then the definitive click of a crossbow.

"Put the sword down, Caspian," a woman, probably Miraz's wife, ordered softly.

Dyani glanced back at Peter, who pulled out his sword and gave her a nod of approval. Susan notched her arrow while the fire fae got to her knees and shot flames at the door's handle.

"I don't want to do this," the woman inside continued.

The redheaded knight stepped back, now that the doorknob and its lock had been melted, and kicked the door open.

"We don't want you to either!" Susan cut in as she, Peter, and Dyani strode into the chambers to find Caspian holding his sword to Miraz's neck while Prunaprismia aimed the crossbow at Caspian from her position on the bed.

Miraz huffed in exasperation as he put his hands on his hips. "This used to be a private room."

"What are you doing?!" Peter exclaimed, his question pointed at Caspian but his sword pointed at Prunaprismia. "You're supposed to be in the gatehouse."

Dyani lifted up the visor on her helmet, her glare unwavering as she stared down the leader of the Telmarines.

"My, my, my," Miraz breathed out as he recognized the young fae. "Look who's all grown up and following in her general's footsteps, foolishly stumbling into a battle she knows she cannot win."

Dyani's breathing quickened and it took every ounce of resolve to keep her sword hand from trembling.

"Oh wait, that general was your father, wasn't he?" Miraz continued in a pretend-oblivious voice.

The tears welling up in Dyani's eyes were answer enough.

"Ah yes, I should have known. Brennain was the only one with a glare like that...only his was partially blocked by an eyepatch. Nonetheless, it still struck fear into the hearts of many soldiers, but not me."

"Because you were the one who sat atop your horse, laughing as your fiery cannonballs destroyed the only fae village in Narnia and your men slaughtered the surviving members of my family!" Dyani choked out.

However, Prunaprismia had not heard that version of history. "Miraz?" the tyrant's wife spoke up as her grip on the crossbow weakened. "What is she talking about? I thought the fae were extinct."

"That was the plan," Miraz whined, "but clearly it looks like I missed one."

"You wiped out an entire people?" Prunaprismia murmured in disbelief.

"Fae were not people!" Miraz spat out. "They plagued our land and threatened our safety! They were beasts...greedy, bloodthirsty, savage beasts! And I would gladly kill them again if I had to!"

Dyani's vision suddenly went red with fury. She growled like an animal as she flung her sword to the side and summoned her fire. Her golden eyes were glowing so brightly that the flames went beyond her hands and crept all the way up to her elbows. Forgetting her promise to Susan, Dyani stormed over toward the bearded man. "I am going to burn you like a piece of kindling, you son of a-"

"No!" Caspian cried out as he held an arm to block Dyani.

Peter took the opportunity to grab the enraged knight by the shoulder and pull her away from Caspian, Miraz, and anything flammable.

"Tonight, for once, I want the truth!" Caspian re-gripped his blade and forced Miraz up against the window. "Did you kill my father?!"

After a moment of hesitation, Miraz nodded in confirmation. "Now we get to it."

"You said your brother died in his sleep," Prunaprismia challenged, keeping the crossbow locked on Caspian.

"That was...more or less true," Miraz admitted.

Susan kept her arrow aimed at Prunaprismia, but she moved her eyes toward the Telmarine prince. "Caspian, this won't make things any better."

"We Telmarines would have nothing had we not taken it," Miraz pointed out. "Your father knew that as well as anyone."

"And when you killed him, you killed the only peace that Narnians had known in over a thousand years!" Dyani spat out.

"How could you?" Prunaprismia questioned in disbelief as she lowered her weapon, disdain for her husband dripping from every word in that sentence.

"For the same reason you will pull the trigger," Miraz replied in an authoritative tone. "For our son!"

Maternal instinct kicked in and Prunaprismia immediately snapped the crossbow back into place. "Stop!" she cried as Miraz winced from Caspian's blade penetrating the surface of his neck.

"Stay right there!" Susan ordered, shifting her aim from Prunaprismia to Miraz.

"You need to make a choice, dear," Miraz said to his wife as blood trickled down his neck. He began to walk forward, pushing Caspian back. "Do you want our child to be king...or do you want him to be like Caspian and our little fae friend here? Fatherless!"

"NO!" Prunsaprismia screamed.

"Caspian!" Peter called out, but it was too late.

Prunaprismia pulled the trigger and shot a bolt straight into Caspian's left arm, forcing him to cry out in pain as he dropped his blade away from Miraz's throat. Miraz ran out the side door, just barely escaping one of Susan's arrows, as his wife lay sprawled on the bed, still screaming for her family. That screech echoed throughout the castle, even startling Edmund all the way up at the lookout tower and causing him to drop his flashlight.

Edmund leaned over the edge of the wall and flinched at the loud clatter made by the metal torch clanking on the cobblestones. "Orion! Do something!"

"Like what?!" the brunette fae challenged.

"Ay! What was that noise?!" a guard from inside the tower called out.

"I don't care, just do it fast!" Edmund hissed.

Orion rapidly paced around the tower for a few seconds before he came up with a plan. "I have an idea!" He rushed over to the edge of the tower and pointed his hands down at the ground. His green eyes shone brightly as a few dead vines tangled on the tower came back to life and grew at an impossible rate toward the flashlight sitting on the platform below.

Edmund descended down the stairs of the tower until he reached the middle window. All he had to do was wait until the vines wrapped around the metal torch and then he could pull them up and grab it...and the plan almost actually worked. Orion did manage to twist the vines around the flashlight, and Edmund did manage to pull the vines up toward the window, but unfortunately a guard came out of the tower and saw a strange metal object dangling from vines just a meter above his head.

Edmund ducked away from the window as the guard wrestled with the vine for a few moments before managing to rip the flashlight out of its hold. The guard inspected the odd find, pointing the side with the lightbulb straight at his face just as he discovered the switch. The metal torch shone directly in the guard's eyes, blinding him for a second as he waved the flashlight back and forth across the sky. Unfortunately, the light allowed the guard to see the source of the strange vines: a foreign boy hanging over the edge of the lookout tower.

"Narnian!" the guard hollered. At the same time, the alarm bell began to toll across the castle.

Edmund knew he had to get that flashlight back to signal for reinforcements, so it looked like there was only one thing left to do.

"Nar-" The guard's call for backup was interrupted by a fifteen-year-old boy diving out of a window and tackling the guard to the ground.

...

The four teenagers who had invaded Miraz's bedroom were now sprinting through the corridors to escape the awakened soldiers. Suddenly, Peter veered off in a different direction.

"Peter?!" Susan called out to her impulsive older brother

"Our troops are just outside! Come on!" Peter yelled back.

The other three glanced at each other unsurely, but Peter was the High King so they did as he said.

Peter tore across the courtyard, whipping his blade out of its sheath. "Now, Ed, now! Signal the troops!"

Dyani glanced up to see Edmund literally being forced to the edge of the tower by one of the guards.

"I'm a bit busy, Pete!" the dark-haired Pevensie panted as he tried to push the guard's sword away from his neck.

"Edmund!" Dyani cried out with a gasp. She unsheathed her blade and started to run toward the tower, but she was stopped.

"Dyani, no!" Peter ordered. "I need you down here! Ed'll be fine!"

The redhead looked back up at the tower just in time to see Edmund knock the guard unconscious with his metal torch, which unfortunately damaged the flashlight. Meanwhile, the blonde king raced toward the controls for the castle gate.

"Peter, it's too late!" Susan insisted. "We have to call it off while we can!"

But Peter refused to listen to reason. "No! I can still do this! Help me!"

Susan, Caspian, and Dyani nervously looked back to see troops flooding into the courtyard.

Suddenly, Dyani knew just what to do. "I will hold them off! You two go help King Peter!"

But the two seventeen-year-olds remained unmoving, not convinced that a single teenage fae - and a wingless one at that - expected to distract dozens of soldiers on her own.

"Trust me!" Dyani snapped. "And no matter what happens, just keep pushing that wheel until the bridge is down and the gates are open!"

Susan and Caspian shared a look before giving in and joining Peter to turn the wheel.

Dyani slowly spun around, her gold eyes smoldering dangerously, and faced her demons. "This is for the fae... _Thar ceann mhaithe leis na daoine a bhfuil cónaí orthu i bhfianaise, anois beidh na fir ina gcónaí i ndomhan chomh dorcha mar an oíche!"_ And with a single jerk of Dyani's hands, every torch in the courtyard snuffed out.

**"_An féidir leat a chur ar mo áit?":_ "Can you take my place?"**

**"_Cén fáth go mbeadh tú ag iarraidh a leithéid de rud?":_ "Why would you ask such a thing?"**

**"_Tá tú an ridire níos fearr. Thairis sin, tar éis an méid a tharla níos luaithe, ní féidir liom dul a bheith iontaofa den sórt sin post tábhachtach":_ "You are the better knight. Besides, after what happened earlier, I do not deserve to be trusted with such an important job"**

**_"Orion, chosain tú an onóir do dheirfiúr agus do theaghlach ar fad. Chonaic tú agus iarracht a ghabháil ina shaighdiúir namhaid. Tá tú níos mó ná fiú do theideal mar ridire...agus ba mhaith liom a muinín agat le mo shaol":_ "Orion, you defended the honor of your sister and your entire family. You spotted and attempted to capture an enemy soldier. You are more than worthy of your title as a knight...and I would trust you with my life"**

"**_Thar ceann mhaithe leis na daoine a bhfuil cónaí orthu i bhfianaise, anois beidh na fir ina gcónaí i ndomhan chomh dorcha mar an oíche!"_ ****: "For the good of the people who live in the light, now these men will live in a world as dark as the night!"**

**Okay so I wrote that opening for the chapter within two weeks of getting back from spring break...and now I'm on summer break...which is still after spring break so I didn't break my promise about an update. And as of now, I have the best news EVER! Even though I got an 82.5 on my final chem exam, I finished up the semester with an A-! HALLE-FREAKING-LUJAH! Plus, I got back my other grades and I averaged an A- in all my other classes for the semester! Wahoo! **

**On an actual story-related note, I'd like to apologize to everybody who was hoping I would cover the whole ambush in this chapter, including me, because I really did expect to do that, but it's just such a long battle and I have yet to figure out exactly how much the battle will change now that Dyani and Orion are in it. But hey, I reached so many potential stopping points in this chapter, but then I'd remember how long it had been since I last updated and I figured you guys deserved an extra long chapter for waiting so long. And please remember that Peter is 18 in this version, which is why he acts like a chauvinistic horny idiot around Dyani (it's an extension of his superiority complex from the movie). Also remember to leave reviews and keep an eye out for the next chapter because it's going to include the battle for Miraz's castle, the quarrel between Caspian and Peter, and perhaps the biggest moment in the Edmund/Dyani/Peter love triangle in this whole story! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Happy Summer! Yes I know, I'm actually putting out a new chapter less than three months after the last one (which I think may be a new record for this story). I actually wrote this intro over a month ago, but my number of shifts doubled and then I hit a metaphorical wall and then I had all these new ideas for my other two stories and I had to write a bunch of essays for a scholarship application so, needless to say, my writing time has been otherwise occupied. I see once again that my number of reviewers has dropped :(...but you know what, it's okay because two reviews on chapter six is still better than only one review on chapter three :). So, thank you _tinkbooklover_ and _Guest_ for helping me look at the bright side (gotta love how both of you started your reviews started with "OMG you updated!"). Obviously my update habits for this story have been...subpar to say the least, so I'm making a promise that this summer will see at least one more update other than this one.**

**Warning: massive battle scenes are not my forte **

**Disclaimer: never have, never will**

And with a single jerk of Dyani's hands, every torch in the courtyard snuffed out.

"Who turned out the lights?!"

"I can't see anything!"

"Where are the intruders?!"

Dyani's golden eyes shone in the moonlight, now the only source of light in the courtyard, before she leapt at the first wave of Telmarines.

"Exactly who are you doing this for, Peter?!" Susan barked, her voice strained from the effort she put into turning the wheel.

Dyani looked up from the Telmarine she had just stabbed to the ground. "Oi! Fight now," Dyani flung a fireball straight at another soldier without even a sideways glance, "argue later!"

Unfortunately, lighting up a Telmarine like a human candlestick provided extra visibility for his comrades...meaning they now knew where their target was.

"Cac!" Dyani cursed as she pulled her sword out of the soldier's chest

Luckily, up in the lookout tower, Edmund had gotten his flashlight up and running just in time to signal the troops outside the front gates. That little sequence of flashes sent an army of minotaurs, centaurs, and other Narnians storming into the Telmarine castle. Dyani, who had been holding her blade to a soldier's neck, froze when she heard the sound of a stampede approaching. She glanced behind her, grinned, turned back to her attacker, relit the torches with a flick of her wrist (so the Telmarines could see that it was Narnians who invaded their impenetrable fortress), and then knocked the soldier in her hands out cold with a swift headbutt from her gold helmet.

"FOR NARNIA!" Peter hollered as he, Caspian, and Susan re-armed themselves and followed their army of rebels in their fight for freedom.

A bloody battle ensued with troops from both sides falling down left and right. With their supernatural strength and agility, the Narnians seemed to have the upper hand...but the Telmarines had the numbers advantage.

"ARCHERS!"

Over a dozen Telmarine marksmen raced out onto the ledge overlooking the courtyard.

"PICK A TARGET!"

The sharpshooters snapped their crossbows into place as they each eyed a different victim below.

"TAKE AIM!"

Edmund found his way to the roof overlooking the row of archers and noticed that one had his sights set on a certain blonde king down by the well in the center of the courtyard. Despite the issues he'd had with Peter over the past few days, they were still brothers...and brothers don't let other brothers get shot in the back. Edmund hoisted himself up and rode down the slanted roof like it was a slide until his feet connected with the shoulders of the archer in question, sending the Telmarine tumbling headfirst into the courtyard.

Dyani's gaze snapped up toward the ledge when she heard the enemy soldier's dying scream and she suddenly realized that Edmund's actions, while brave, were practically suicidal. "Ed!" the redheaded fae cried out.

Edmund looked at Dyani and then he looked at the twelve or so marksmen standing just a few paces from where their comrade had been kicked off the ledge. They hesitated for a few seconds to let what just happened sink in, but those few seconds allowed Edmund enough time to jump through an open door and kick it shut behind him before the Telmarines turned him into a human dartboard.

Dyani jabbed a soldier in between the shoulder blades with the butt of her handle and started toward the lookout tower, but she was stopped by a hand wrapped around her left wrist. Instinctively, Dyani spun around and was about to snap her attacker's arm in half until she realized that her 'attacker' was none other than High King Peter.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Peter interrogated before he elbowed a Telmarine creeping up from the back in the nose.

"My job: protecting the Kings and Queens of Narnia!" Dyani panted as she tried to jerk her wrist out of Peter's grasp. "And seeing how one of those kings barely escaped death by a dozen crossbows, clearly I am not doing my job very well!"

"Ed can handle himself!" Peter waved off. "Right now, you have to stay down here!"

Dyani glared at the blonde Pevensie, her chest rising and falling with her quick and shallow breathing.

"That's an order!" Peter snapped when he recognized that the only way to get the fiery knight to listen to him was by banking on her oath of obedience to the crown.

Dyani's eyes narrowed, but she didn't have time to reply before a Telmarine noticed her moment of vulnerability and slashed at Dyani's outstretched arm with his dagger. Luckily, because of her armor, the blade only nicked her. However, the fae still shrieked in pain, and before Peter could even try to play hero, Dyani dropped her sword to the ground, lit her right hand on fire, and grabbed hold of the Telmarine's face. That smell of burning flesh and the feel of the man's bubbling skin underneath Dyani's white-hot fingertips would haunt the girl for years, but Dyani forced her guilt to the back of her mind...at least until after she was out of the bloodbath.

Dyani dropped to the ground to retrieve her blade and whipped her head up to stare at Peter. "Go!"

Peter was so stunned from seeing how horrifically powerful Dyani really was that he actually did as she asked. Plus, with her golden eyes pulsing like supernovas and the tangled strands of her hair stuck to the smears of blood on her cheeks, Dyani had never looked so terrifying. The blonde teenager nodded his head in agreement and returned to dueling with the Telmarine soldiers.

Meanwhile, Edmund had stabbed and wrestled his way back up to the lookout tower. As he used his flashlight to seal the door shut behind him, Edmund was glad to see that Orion was still there and unharmed. However, that relief soon turned to alarm.

"We have to get you out of here!" the dark-haired king insisted.

"What?!" Orion exclaimed. "But, Your Highness-"

"You were too young to come on this raid. I need to keep you safe...for your sister," Edmund argued before he leaned over the edge of the tower and whistled.

Within seconds, a griffin flew up to the tower, awaiting orders from the Just King.

"But...but..." Orion stammered as Edmund pushed him onto the back of the winged creature, the brunette Pevensie boy not noticing the vines the earth fae was stealthily hiding in his fists.

"Take him back to camp," Edmund instructed the griffin.

The creature cawed in agreement and took off into the night sky with the heartbroken boy holding on. Edmund felt regret welling up in his chest, but the sound of soldiers banging on the door and on the chains holding the gates open chased away any feelings other than panic. From their spots all over the castle, Peter, Caspian, Susan, Edmund, and Dyani watched as the battle raged on, the only exit balancing on the shoulders of a determined minotaur.

"Fall back!" Peter hollered in a ragged voice. "We need to retreat, now!"

Susan stared at her brother in disbelief. Why couldn't he realize that they were fighting a losing battle before half of their army was slaughtered?!

"Go! Get the girls out of here!" Peter yelled at Glenstorm in between jabbing attackers.

The centaur nodded obediently and - after taking Susan's outstretched hand and hoisting the Gentle Queen onto his back - grabbed Dyani by her right elbow, which was poised to stab a Telmarine in the neck; pulled her into a sitting position right behind Susan; and galloped off toward the gates.

"Caspian?!" Susan called out to her older brother.

"I'll find him!" Peter promised before running off to spread his commands to the rest of the army. "Go! Get out! Go! Get out! Retreat!"

Glenstorm continued toward the exit, cutting down any Telmarines in his path, and managed to ride out of the courtyard with both girls on his back thanks to the strength of the minotaur keeping the gate open.

At the same time, up on the lookout tower, the Telmarines had finally busted down the door and were now backing Edmund into a corner. The fifteen-year-old, as he stood between two stone blockades, glanced behind him. All he saw was open water...but then he heard the flapping of wings. Edmund looked the two guards directly in the eyes, held up his hands in mock surrender, smirked, and then fell backwards off the tower. The guards scrambled to look over the edge of the tower, but they were knocked back by a griffin's claws...a griffin that was being steered by a thirteen-year-old fae with a makeshift vine harness.

As Edmund and Orion flew their griffin over the Telmarine fortress, Caspian was riding through it on a stolen horse. The former prince glared up at his ruthless uncle, who was watching the whole battle with his general from the comfort of his balcony. However, Caspian knew he had no time to waste on that monster, so, with Professor Cornelius riding at his side, Caspian passed another horse off to Peter. The blonde king skipped alongside his horse for a few seconds, kicking at any obstacles until he had a better opportunity to mount the steed, but his window of opportunity was getting narrower as Miraz commandeered a crossbow from his general and shot the minotaur Atlas in the stomach. The archers followed the lead of their king and proceeded to fire arrow after arrow at the minotaur and any other Narnians trying to escape. The minotaur had just enough energy left in him to hoist the gates high enough for the professor, the prince, and the king to ride through, but once they passed, the minotaur finally collapsed under the metal gates' weight. The only ones who were able to flee after those gates dropped were the tiny Reepicheep and the winged Ivan.

Peter stopped to look behind him at all the Narnians - all his soldiers - who hadn't been able to retreat in time. Despite their cries for the Son of Adam to run, to save himself, all Peter wanted to do was go back and save them. Those who had been fortunate enough to escape were suffering from survivor's guilt, especially Glenstorm who had to watch as his trapped sons swallowed their fears and simply accepted their fate.

"Peter, the bridge!" Reepicheep exclaimed, tearing the blonde Pevensie away from his moral dilemma.

Peter broke eye contact with his doomed troops and charged his horse toward the rapidly rising bridge, soaring through the air before landing safely on the other side as the closed bridge blocked any view of the gates or the loyal soldiers locked behind them. Up in the sky, though, Edmund and Orion flew over the courtyard to the sound of pure silence, the piles of corpses confirming that the battle had officially been lost.

...

Lucy was laying alongside the Stone Table, tracing her fingers over her healing cordial in hopes that she wouldn't need to use it too much when the army returned...which, by the sounds of footsteps coming from above, was happening right about now. The Valiant Queen holstered her cordial and raced out of the underground fortress to see only a fraction of the troops returning from the ambush, all of them with at least some form of battle injury.

"What happened?" Lucy asked sadly.

"Ask him," Peter snapped with a glance toward Caspian.

"Peter," Susan scolded from behind, followed closely by Orion and an unnaturally pale Dyani.

"Me?!" Caspian defended. "You could've called it off! There was still time!"

"No there wasn't, thanks to you," Peter retorted. "If you kept to the plan, those soldiers might be alive."

"If you'd just stayed here like I suggested, they definitely would be!"

"You called us, remember?"

"My first mistake."

"No," Peter dismissed. "Your first mistake was thinking you could lead these people."

"Hey!" Caspian shouted.

The volume and anger of the Telmarine prince's voice caused Peter to stop in his step and face the dark-skinned boy.

"I am not the one who abandoned Narnia," Caspian growled.

"You invaded Narnia," Peter corrected as he pointed an accusatory finger in Caspian's face. "You have no more right to lead it than Miraz does!"

Caspian shoved Peter aside and kept walking toward the temple.

"You, him, your father..." Peter continued, "Narnia's better off without the lot of you!"

Caspian whipped out his sword with a guttural cry, and had it not been for Edmund, Caspian and Peter would've dueled to the death right then and there.

"Stop it!" the younger Pevensie boy demanded as he and Glenstorm lowered the unconscious Trumpkin to the ground.

The centaur shared a look with his wife to inform her that their sons had not returned but that they had died with honor, yet that didn't stop her sobs. Meanwhile, Caspian stormed into the fortress, only noticed by the dark-haired dwarf Nikabrik who immediately followed the prince inside. Lucy held back a cry as she ran between the angry teenagers and knelt beside her dwarf friend. She immediately uncorked her cordial and tilted it over Trumpkin's mouth. As soon as the firefly juice touched his lips, Trumpkin coughed and opened his eyes to see the Kings and Queens watching him.

"What are you all standing around for?" Trumpkin muttered. "Telmarines will be here soon enough."

Lucy stood up, grinning slightly as she put her cordial back into her belt.

"Thank you..." Trumpkin added hesitantly, "my Dear Little Friend."

Lucy's smile widened as she trailed behind her siblings back toward the temple.

Dyani smirked weakly in amusement, but she stumbled in her step.

"Whoa, Ani, are you hurt?!" Orion questioned nervously, his hands hovering around his sister in case she fell.

"I am fine, Ri," Dyani dismissed as she shook off her dizziness. "I am just tired from the battle."

Orion did not seem convinced.

"How about you go help Lucy tend to the wounded?" Edmund proposed as he stepped up to the fae siblings. "I can take care of Dyani."

Orion gave the Just King a look of confidence before leaving to catch up to Lucy.

"Aww what's the matter, Sparky?" Ivan teased as he casually strolled up behind Dyani and Edmund. "Did a mean ol' Telmarine give you a boo-boo?"

"Back off, Blizzard-Brain!" Dyani spat back as she removed her helmet. "I am not in the mood for you or your mockery."

"Ooh! Looks like the Walking Candlestick has a temper."

"I told you to go away!"

"Hey, does your hair still light on fire when you get annoyed?"

"I am warning you!"

"I'm so scared! I better run before she burns this whole place down!"

Dyani ripped her arm out of Edmund's grip and, as Ivan expected, her red hair actually lit up. Edmund gasped as he jumped back from the flames, but Ivan remained unfazed.

"I mean it!" Dyani roared.

Ivan glanced at Dyani's left arm and took note of the red stain on her armor. For now, though, held up his hands in surrender, but the smug look on his face proved that he felt no remorse, especially when he started laughing as he walked into the temple with everybody else. "Watch out, everybody! It seems we have a Hothead in our army!"

Dyani breathed heavily for a few more seconds, trying to ignore the suspicious and wary looks she got from the remaining troops who took the long way around to avoid stepping within her reach. Eventually, the fire fae's temper subsided and the humiliation sunk in. Ivan had made a fool of her yet again...in front of Edmund...and Dyani had let it happen! She had played right into his cold hands!

"Your Highness, I am so sorry!" Dyani apologized.

"Why would you need to apologize to me?" Edmund inquired.

"Because a true knight of Narnia would never let their emotions get the better of them, especially not with a brother in arms and definitely not in front of the king!" Dyani sighed as she gazed at her reflection in the golden helmet in her hands. "I do not deserve this armor. I will turn it over to the blacksmiths and leave camp by sunset." The fae turned toward the temple to do just that when Edmund laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You will do nothing of the sort," Edmund corrected in a soft but firm voice.

"But, my lord-"

Edmund placed a finger on the phoenix knight's lips to shush her. "You took on the first wave of Telmarines all by yourself just so the other troops to get in to protect Caspian and the rest of us. As far as I see it, you live up to your title as fae of fire: strong, passionate, brave...a little bit quick-tempered but that makes you an even better fighter. And if you think that I'll let you just walk away from everything you've trained for just because some jerk makes you think you're a bad knight, well...that would make me a bad king."

Dyani raised her head and locked eyes with Edmund and before she could stop herself, she threw her arms around the brunette Pevensie boy. "Thank you, Edmund," Dyani whispered as she pressed her cheek against the cool leather of Edmund's breastplates.

Edmund breathed in Dyani's scent as he ran his finger's through the fae's hair, which was surprisingly soft even though it had been in flames just seconds ago. How was it that even after spending all night battling Telmarines and fleeing through the woods, Dyani still smelled like cinnamon and campfire smoke. To be honest, it was kind of addictive. "Anytime," Edmund murmured.

Eventually, Dyani pulled away. "So, um, how about we join the others inside and offer up some suggestions for the coming battle? No offense to your brother, but I think King Peter's 'victory-guaranteed' strategies stopped being used a thousand years for a reason."

Edmund chuckled. "That's what I tried to tell him," he replied with a smirk.

The two fifteen-year-olds walked toward the fortress, their fingers accidentally brushing against each other, but this time, neither Dyani nor Edmund flinched.

...

Caspian stood in the passageway to the Stone Table, staring at the drawings of the Golden Age of Narnia, wondering why things had been so right then but so wrong now.

"Are you so glad of that magic horn now, boy?" a voice taunted from the shadows.

Caspian whirled around to see Nikabrik casually leaning up against the wall.

"Your kings and queens have failed us. Your army's half-dead, and those who aren't will be soon enough."

"What do you want?" Caspian muttered. "Congratulations?"

Nikabrik smirked wickedly. "You want your uncle's blood. So do we. You want his throne? We can get it for you." The dark-haired dwarf walked down the tunnel to the room housing the Stone Table, followed by a hesitant albeit curious Caspian. "You tried one ancient power. It failed. But there is a power greater still, one that kept even Aslan at bay for near a hundred years."

Caspian's hand flew to his sheath and he pulled out his sword to defend himself as he watched three silhouettes emerge from the darkness.

...

Dyani gasped as her knees buckled and she fell against the wall of the cave.

"Dyani?!" Edmund exclaimed, immediately wrapping his arms around her to hold her up. "What's wrong?!"

"C-Cold!" the fire fae stammered through her shivers.

"Cold?!" Edmund repeated. "Like when you sensed Ivan?"

"Co-Colder!" Dyani stuttered. "Much, much colder!"

Edmund's eyes darkened in realization. "PETER!"

The oldest Pevensie rushed around the corner with Trumpkin at his heels. Seeing Dyani in his little brother's arms definitely irritated Peter...and he didn't try that hard to mask it. "Edmund, what is it?! I'm a little busy getting ready for a Telmarine invasion."

"Well I'm so sorry to bother you, Your Majesty," Edmund replied bitterly as he helped the trembling phoenix knight back to her feet, "but it looks like an old winter friend decided to pay us a surprise visit."

All of the color drained out of Peter's face. "Ed, you and Trumkin follow me. Dyani, go find Susan and get somewhere safe."

"You expect to defeat ice without help from fire?" Dyani challenged.

Peter grunted in surrender. "Come on."

The dwarf, the fae, and the two kings sprinted down the hallway toward the Stone Table. The four of them arrived just in time to see Caspian standing in the middle of a summoning circle in front of a wall of ice. A hag chanted in some ancient language as a werewolf held Caspian's bloody palm up to the outstretched hand of Jadis...the White Witch.

"Stop!" Peter roared as he tore into the room, his blade flashing in the light of the torches.

The werewolf released Caspian and leapt on top of the cracked table while Nikabrik and the hag pulled out their weapons, but Caspian made no effort to move away from the witch. Dyani's face blanched as she took note of the giant ice block. No amount of witchcraft could channel winter magic that strong unless there was another source of winter magic to help. But the redheaded fae did not have time to muse over her theory before the werewolf pounced at her. Luckily, Edmund had already unsheathed his sword and knocked the werewolf off to the side. And so, it was Edmund and Dyani versus the werewolf, Trumpkin versus Nikabrik, and Peter versus the hag.

Nikabrik slammed Trumpkin up against one of the columns and had his dagger poised for a strike, but Lucy appeared out of nowhere, stole Nikabrik's knife, and held it up to the dark-haired dwarf's throat. Unfortunately, his shortness gave Nikabrik an advantage as he grabbed Lucy's wrist and wrenched it behind her back, causing the Valiant Queen to cry out in pain as he took his curved blade back. Nikabrik shoved Lucy to the ground and backed her up into a dead end, grinning evilly as he twirled his dagger in his fingers. However, before Nikabrik could go in for the kill, strong roots broke through the cracks in the stone floor and wrapped themselves around the dwarf's wrists and ankles. Lucy spun around to see Orion standing at the entrance to the room, his arm stretched out in front of him, his green eyes glowing bright, looking even angrier and more dangerous than he had when Ivan insulted Dyani. Lucy looked back at her attacker and watched Nikabrik squirming in his restraints, but his struggling suddenly stopped with a gasp as the dark-haired dwarf dropped to the floor with Trumpkin's knife in his back. Lucy didn't know which of her saviors to thank first, so instead she just grabbed both of her friends and brought them in for a group hug.

Meanwhile, Peter had sent the hag flying into a column, knocking her out cold after she attempted to knock Peter's sword from his hand, and Dyani and Edmund were just seconds away from taking down the werewolf as well.

As the White Witch watched her followers get defeated one by one, she grew less persuasive and more persistent in her efforts with Caspian. "Come on!" Jadis insisted through clenched teeth, her arm starting to quiver. "Come!"

"Get away from him!" Peter commanded as he shoved Caspian out of the witch's reach. He pointed his sword straight at the block of ice, ready to fend off this ghost of his past.

Most people would be enraged if their chance for resurrection was within their grasp and then ripped away, but Jadis didn't seem enraged. At the very worst, she seemed surprised. "Peter, dear," the witch greeted in a sugar-coated voice. "I've missed you."

Peter glared at Jadis loathingly. However, the witch did not surrender to the teenage king so easily. She extended her hand through the ice, inviting Peter to take hold of it. Even though the White Witch had been dead for over a thousand years, she still knew Peter's flaws...especially his subconscious fear of failure.

"Come. Just one drop," Jadis persuaded as she eyed the blood dripping from the cut over Peter's eyebrow. "You know you can't do this alone."

Peter felt his sword hand quiver as his resolve weakened. By pushing Caspian away from the White Witch, he had landed himself right in the center of the magical circle.

The witch smirked as she seductively repeated the promise she had given Caspian. "I will be yours, my king."

That statement snapped Peter back to his senses. He re-gripped his blade and deepened his frown. "Not interested."

Jadis' grin dropped. What happened? Peter was supposed to cave in at her words. Instead, her charms seemed to strengthen his resolve. It made no sense! Suddenly, realization dawned on the witch. It made no sense unless...

"I see your disinterest in my side of the bargain. That is perfectly understandable...considering your heart lies with another," Jadis replied smoothly.

Peter's breath hitched as his eyes momentarily flickered toward Dyani, only confirming the witch's suspicions. Jadis looked in the direction of Peter's gaze and saw a redheaded, wingless fae battling with the werewolf.

"Does she share your affections?" the witch asked innocently as she turned her attention back to Peter.

The blonde boy stayed silent, but the sadness in his eyes answered Jadis' question.

"Free me, and I can give you everything you desire," the White Witch promised. "The Narnians, led by you, will defeat the Telmarines; the crown will return to your head; and a certain fae's heart will belong to you...and only you."

Peter could feel his determination shrinking as the implications of Jadis' promise churned around in his mind. He would have his crown back and a gorgeous warrior on his arm without any competition from Caspian or Edmund. Besides, Aslan showed no sign of returning to aid the Narnians, so why not look to another magical source as their secret weapon? But before Peter could seal the deal, a crack suddenly appeared in the White Witch's stomach and the entire wall of ice soon shattered into a million pieces around Edmund's sword. Dyani shielded her face from the shards, but the noise of the ice block crashing did not disguise another sound...the sound of a body thumping to the ground.

"I know," Edmund spoke up as he glared directly at Peter. "You had it sorted."

"Actually," a new voice added gruffly from the dark corners of the room, "I had it sorted."

...

**Okay if I were a reader, I'd totally wanna beat me up for such a cliffhanger, but this next scene requires the expertise of a real fight writer...who I happen to have on speed dial but I wanted to get this chapter out asap and my fight-writer-on-demand would need at least a few days to come up with the scene. Besides, this chapter is already over 4000 words and roughly 3000 of them are from fights. I love y'all, please leave reviews, and I'll see y'all later this summer.**


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